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| Always ask God for His Love and Service. |
If we approach God with worldly desires, our mind remains
stuck in the world. Then no matter how
much devotion we do, our mind does not become pure. It is like packing dirty water in a bottle, and
dipping the bottle in the holy Ganga. No
matter how long the bottle remains in the Ganga, the water within remains
dirty, since it did not even come in contact with the water of the Ganga.
There is a humorous story to illustrate this point. There were two neighbors, Ramesh and
Dinesh. As sometimes happens between
neighbors, they developed great envy for each other. When one of them bought a new car, the other
did the same. One built a fence around his
yard, and the other followed suit. One
repainted the exterior of his house, and shortly afterwards, the other also did
the same.
After a few years of living as neighbors, their animosity
for each other increased so much that they could not tolerate seeing each
other. Finally, Ramesh thought of an idea
to get ahead of Dinesh. He decided he
would please Lord Shiv and ask Him for a boon.
The next day, early in the morning, at 5 am, he went to the temple of
Lord Shiv. He offered his obeisance to
the Shiv Ling, and sat down under a tree in the courtyard of the temple. He began chanting, “Om Namah Shivaya!” with
the resolve that he would not stop until Lord Shiv appeared before him and
asked him what he wanted.
However, sometimes evil minds think alike. Dinesh too had gotten the same idea on the
previous night, that he would get ahead of Ramesh by asking Lord Shiv for a
boon. So at 5.15 am he reached the same
temple. He offered his obeisance to the Shiv
Ling, and sat down in the courtyard under another tree.
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| God is ready to give us anything that we want. |
Sounds of “Om Namah Shivaya” came to his ears. He looked in that direction, and was shocked
to see his neighbor Ramesh sitting under the other tree. He immediately understood Ramesh’s intention,
and resolved, “Let’s see whom Lord Shiv comes to first.” He too began chanting the name of Shiv.
At around 7 am other devotees too began coming to the
temple. They found both of them sitting,
apparently in great devotion, chanting the Names of God. They thought, “These two have such
concentration of mind. They must be
great devotees.”
At noon time, Mother Parvati said to God Shiv, “Ramesh and
Dinesh are taking your name with such intensity. Why don’t you go and give them your darshan?”
Shivji replied, “Parvati, they will not benefit from
it. But if you say so, I will go to
them.”
He first appeared before Ramesh and said, “My son, I have
come. Open your eyes.” Ramesh opened his eyes, and saw Lord Shiv
before him. Shivji asked, “What do you
want? Ask and I will give it to you.”
Ramesh said, “My Lord!
I will definitely ask. However
before I do, I have a question. Have you
given darshan to Dinesh as yet?”
“I have not,” said God Shiv.
“But after this, I intend to go to him.”
Ramesh was now in a fix.
If he asked for a Mercedes, Dinesh would ask for two Mercedes; if he
asked for a million dollars, Dinesh would ask for two million. Finally, he had an idea. He said, “O Lord! Whatever you give to him, give me twice of
that.”
Shiv ji then went before Dinesh and said, “My son, I have
come. What do you want from me?”
Dinesh too offered his obeisance to God Shiv. He asked in the same manner, “O Lord, before
I ask, please tell me whether you have given darshan to Ramesh.”
“That I have,” replied Shivji.
“What did he ask?”
“He said that whatever you get, he should get double of it.”
Dinesh was now in the fix.
Having performed such severe austerities, he would still remain behind
Ramesh. Finally, an idea came to him for
putting down Ramesh. He said, “Please
make blind in one eye.”
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| Desire from God should be of Eternal Bliss. |
Lord Shiv made Dinesh blind in one eye, and Ramesh became totally
blind. The people, who had been thinking
that these two were great devotees, realized that they were not devotees at
all. Although they had been taking the
name of God, their minds were steeped in worldly desires.
True devotion is that where the mind gets attached to
God. If physically we worship God, but
our mind is attached to the world, it will be devotion to the world and not to
God. Such devotion will not cleanse the
mind from the afflictions of maya. Hence,
if we want to purify our mind, we must strictly follow the rule of not to ask
God for worldly things. It is such love
that will cleanse the mind.
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