It Is Not All That Easy To Have Faith

The following article appeared in "The Speaking Tree" column in Times of India on 20th Aug 2009. The article is written by B Jivan Yati Maharaj.

French pilot Ronald Nikson was flying his plane and he and his four colleagues were trying to locate the defence facilities of the German army during World War I. They entered German air space and were hiding their plane behind clouds. Nikson needed to clearly view the defence sites, so he took the risk of lowering his plane. His plane was hit. The German army was firing at them and the plane was in flames.

Nikson later wrote of the incident: ‘‘I was a non-believer in God. Observing that my burning plane was losing height rapidly and would soon crash, with no chance of survival, i murmured, ‘If there is a God, save me.’ I went blank after that. On regaining consciousness, i was told that i remained unconscious for almost 2 months. When i inquired about my colleagues, i was told that somehow the burning plane re-entered French border territory and fell there. Nothing remained, none of the others survived – except the pilot, yours truly.

‘‘After getting discharged i began going to church and inquiring about God from various priests. If God exists then i should find Him and talk to Him. I was not satisfied with the answers i got and eventually began reading many holy books. My desire to meet God increased day by day. After all He was my saviour. I was advised to visit India to learn further about God. I was informed that sages of ancient India had researched deeply into this topic. I resigned from the Royal Air Force, and came to India in search of God.’’

Nikson came to India and took up a position as professor in the English department at Lucknow University. Krishna says in the Gita that He helps those who seek Him out with sincerity. Nikson familiarised himself with Indian scriptures including the Gita, the Upanishads, the Vedas and the Srimad Bhagavatam. He took the name of Sri Krishna Prema. He established a centre at Mirtola in UP, now known as ‘’Uttar Vrindavan’. It is said that he realised the Supreme Lord here and used to talk to the Lord. .

Once Srila Madhav Maharaj met the Nobel prize-winning scientist C V Raman. During the course of a discussion, the scientist said to Maharaj that if he could show Krishna to him, then he would concur with the Maharaj’s words. They were in a laboratory in Kolkata city.

The northern side of the laboratory had a wall without windows. Maharaj asked Raman, ‘‘I am unable to see anything beyond that wall. If i say, ‘there is nothing outside this wall’, will it be correct?’’ Raman replied, ‘‘I can see through my instruments.’’ Maharaj said, ‘‘There is a limit to your instruments. You can see only as far as your instruments allow you to see.’’ Raman said, ‘‘I will not give any attention to anything that is not within my sense-experience.’’ Maharaj then said, ‘‘If your students say to you, they will study your scientific findings only if you make them realise the results first, what would be your reaction?’’

Raman replied that the students would have to go through the learning process first. ‘‘If this is true for you and your scientific knowledge, can not our seers say the same thing? Follow their process and see whether you experience God’s existence or not.’’

The writer is general secretary, All India Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math.

Enjoy The Effort No Matter What The Effect

The following article appeared in "The Speaking Tree" column in Times of India on 7th Aug 2009. The article is written by Swami Sukhabodhananda.

We have many desires and targets. We don’t always get what we want. Some of us are happy with what we get, and others remain dissatisfied. Still others don’t give up; they keep trying. Which approach would be the right one?

I will recommend another approach. You can have a desire. Put in your best effort to fulfil it. But make sure you enjoy the effort rather than its fruits. There are those who make the effort grumbling and are happy only when the desire is achieved. There are others who exhaust themselves making the effort to such a degree that they have no strength or enthusiasm left to enjoy the fruit. My method is: Enjoy the effort no matter what the effect.

My approach is to celebrate the march towards the destination. If the destination is reached, we will be happy. Even if it is not reached, nobody can take away the sense of thrill at having run the race, the delicious fatigue felt along the whole body. My happiness is derived not from reaching a goal, but from the struggle i wage as part of my attempt at reaching it. I am engaged in talking to you now. Suppose i feel i will be happy only if you give me a thundering ovation when i conclude my lecture. That means i am not fully enjoying my teaching, rather, my mind is set on a particular goal. That very concern may prevent me from giving my best to my teaching and thus act as a barrier to my attaining the goal.

Playing football is one kind of joy, winning is another kind. The problem is we identify joy exclusively with winning. Classical musicians are so absorbed in their performance that for all practical purposes, they are unmindful of the audience, the applause at climactic points, or the money they will receive from the organisers at the end. What they enjoy is their involvement in bringing their art alive, not the end result in the form of ovation or payment. So enjoy the process. Enjoy the travel. Enjoy the endeavour.

Ensure that you will be working smart, not just hard. Don’t go fishing in the bathtub. Don’t try to work up lather in a running stream. Instead, fish in a stream, and work up lather in a bathtub. Set and evaluate your goals, estimate the quantum and quality of efforts to be invested in attaining the goals, calculate the ROI (return on investment) quotient carefully, and then, if you are convinced the ratio is as satisfactory, go ahead and work towards your goals. That is smart work, intelligent effort.

Failure is a fact of life. In all competitive contexts as in sports, for example, one side has to lose. So why not enjoy the effort rather than exult at success or mope at failure? I think it is better mental discipline to celebrate the successes rather than brood on the losses. It is definitely a healthier strategy for the future for anyone wishing to continue in competitive endeavours.

There is also a spiritual lesson in every failure. Failures are necessary to remind people of their essential human vulnerabilities. An unbroken string of successes can create pride and a sense of invincibility about oneself in a high achiever. Remember the bragging, “I am the greatest” that comes out of the mouths of wrestlers and boxing stars? As the common maxim goes, such pride always precedes a great fall. Surrendering to the Lord is an act of bhakti – devotion, and surrender happens only in a spirit of humility.