Entrusting our life to the Almighty

Entrusting our life to the Almighty

I read an article by respected Shri Vaidyalinga Sharma in a Malayalam magazine called Bhakthapriya published by Guruvayur devaswom. I would like to share one point from that article.

It is true for all of us that when we entrust a job or duty to somebody, we feel relieved. We believe in their capability to handle that particular job. For example, we ride a train or fly in an airplane completely trusting the driver's or pilots's ability to run the vehicle. This is true even with a taxi ride. We actually entrust our life to them and sit relaxed, often reading, eating, sleeping or talking to the next person etc. We trust a surgeon to correct or replace our damaged organ and let him take care of us. Another example is of requesting a priest to do pushpaanjali for the family or individual and trust that priest will pray for us.In all these actions we find solace by trusting whom ever we chose to trust. All the above are happenings in everyday life.

When it comes to more complicated problems of life, , we have a hard time to trust in the capability of the All-knowing Supreme power who diligently carries out so many of His duties with out fail. We do not know of a day when Sun rises two hours later than usual or sets earlier. He meticulously takes care of the gradual growth of a fetus to a full grown baby. Examples are endless. The author says: why can't we entrust the responsibility of our life to that Almighty? Isn't it stupid not to trust Him?

This trusting is not a sign of weakness or lack of action. In the given situation, do everything one can, but think that we are only instruments in the hands of that Supreme power. The pride of "i am the doer" shifts the responsibility to our shoulders and then the never ending worry starts. Just like we get in to the train, find our seat and then relax, do our duties as they come in our life and then relax. While sitting in the train, if the TTR asks us to move to another seat or even another boggy due to some danger or some other reason, we listen to him and cooperate with him. Likewise, do our duties and if circumstances prompt us to do special duties, do them the best way you can and relax. Even if one wants to control the situation, is it really possible to control anything?

Author quotes from several scriptures to say that this is the most practical way to cross the ocean of life peacefully. The new trend of "you are accountable for whatever happens" just does not work in most of the situations. It will apply only to some extent, only with in the small field where we can exercise our free will. An example to show how free will helps us is interesting.

Imagine a person is jailed for a serious criminal charge and he is not allowed to come out of his room. His freedom stays only with in the four walls of that room. He can do what ever he wants sitting there. He can yell and scream and call names to express his anger. He can make the room dirty. He can also chant divine names or pray or try to keep everything tidy and obey the orders of superiors. He can either make his life and others life little bit harder or easier by his actions. But still his freedom ends there.

Similarly, we can do our best or worst in some limited situations to make things better or worse, but we often cannot avoid or control lot of things happening to us. When we get a serious illness, an unexpected accident, the only thing we do is to ask "why me?" with no one to answer our question. So, in all circumstances, doing our best and leaving the rest to be guided by the all-pervading power is the only thing that is practical.

This attitude is called Prapatthi or Sharanagathi. Whether we like it or not, when ever we trust and go forward, there is shanthi or peace. That is why we are able to sleep in an airplane, trusting the pilot's ability to fly us safely. If we are able to broaden this trust to the lotus feet of the Lord and go forward, at that point , we can say that God's grace is flowing towards us. We realize that we are blessed to have such an attitude.

This is just an attempt to share the main point described in the article. My inability to express how the article touched me is very obvious to myself. But I strongly felt the urge to share the best way I could.