Acharya Ishan Shivanand speaks

I remember I asked Babaji how could I become one with divinity and how could I get what I wanted in life.  He smiled at me, lifted me up, looked at me with his love-laden eyes and whispered, “It’s a secret but one I will divulge.  It is true knowledge which will change your life, but are you ready to listen to this open secret? With great awe and anticipation I agreed.  He told me, “You are the creator of your own destiny!”  Remember this.  Always bear in mind this divine truism and when you will truly accept and apply this success mantra in life, you will become a true Shiv Yogi.

And, till this date I remember these powerful words of His.  ‘I am the creator of my own destiny’.  Till date these words remain the most revolutionary.  Nobody I’ve come across have made such a statement; or rather nobody wants to hear this “simplistic” way out of mediocrity…..this simply does not sound magical enough.

None of the problem solvers say this because if they do it would mean making you are more powerful than them and that would mean they demean or lessen their own value.  It would mean jeopardizing their own interests.  It would mean closure of their shops.  Finally, it would mean digging their own graves.

You becoming Creator implies You becoming God! So why would anyone want to empower you and make you invincible to the extent of even closing down his business?

Baba ji once narrated a story to me… “Once there lived a doctor and a lady came to him complaining of the cold.  The doctor gave her medicine but soon she returned as there was no relief.  So he gave her another medicine but she soon returned back with a worsened cold. This process went on for a few more times until one day the lady yelled out of frustration, “Are you not able to cure my cold?”  The doctor after a thought replied, “Okay, take a cold shower, wear wet clothes and then stand out in the cold for two hours at nighttime.”  The woman was taken aback and asked for a reassurance whether this would cure her cold? The doctor with a smile replied that following these instructions would certainly get her pneumonia and then he would cure it.
 
 I sit today and read all sorts of questions people send to me asking about how can my Shani Dosha be remedied, how can Rahu Dosha be cured, how can my stars be better, etc.  To my amazement, nobody ever asks ‘How can I be a better human being.’  Everybody has given their steering wheel to different agents rather being accountable to their own selves.  And, for this reason they cannot grow.  They suffer because their Shani is adversarial and if the third person (the problem solver) has the power, then till the time the Shani is scheduled to be there in their destiny they will suffer.

 And that is why Baba ji advocates putting an end to this process of consultations and “grievance redressal”.  He says, “Stop letting people from giving you the cure for the problem which they firstly created in you.  You are the creator of your own destiny.  So if you are suffering then it is because of your own previous action.  And if your action can create pain then your action is certainly capable of creating happiness, success and wealth too.  The methodology is to just reverse the process."

I remember a psychiatrist appreciating on the progress his patient was making during treatment and the enraged patient asked, “What progress? Till two days ago, I was Napolean and now I am nobody.  Spirituality is becoming nobody, becoming simple and becoming truthful.  Your ego may make you believe of your false persona but your Guru connects you to the truth.

This path of truth… of hard work… of tapasaya is a tough path.  The moment I accept I am the creator of my destiny, then at that very moment I must come out of the comfort zone and work hard for what I wish to create.  But the lazy will always shift the blame, the lazy will ask “When will I get my husband? When will I get rich?  When will my Shani become alright?  He will want to escape from reality by grabbing a false hope.

And that is how you will see the world functioning.  Everybody likes to escape from reality.  People escape into television, some into philosophy or some just into illusions of their emotions.  Escapism seems easy.  But in real life when they see there is a problem, they find two people in front of them - One like Baba ji, who shows the path of hard work and accomplishing goals with simplicity and truthfulness and the other kind - the delusional kind, the kind who say God talks to them and prescribes a miracle cure to people.

We need to understand that this disease also did not appear miraculously.  You were persistent with your negativity and gradually the pain or issue increased and if you change and make a conscious effort, if you meditate and walk on the path of ShivYog, then the pain or issue will gradually go away.

The second category of “problem solvers” are the people who tell you instant fixes and as solutions to problems give advices that “God is angry with you.  Do this or do that and God will be happy.”

Baba ji says, “Remember that Shiva loves you.  He is unlike you, He is above resentment and anger, He is the ocean of unconditional love.  He is God only because He is above the pancha vikaars or the five vices.  So the universe is always at your side.  The other type of people will wean you away from reality.  For example, if there is a constant fight between you and your family, you would be told that you are suffering from some dosha, you will be advised to observe five upvas (fasts) to resolve the issues.

This is, however, not Shiv Yog.  There has been a fight because you emitted the waves of quarrel and conflict.  Become a better human being, earn the love and respect of your family and learn to respect the women of the house and they will love you. “Ek ne kahi aur doosre ne maani - dono bane Brahmagyani.”  (One says and the other listens – both become the knower of the Ultimate Truth)  This is Shiv Yog.

We need to understand that if we take a seed, put it in a box and worship it, even after a hundred years there will be no tree.  For that, you have to sow it in the ground, expose it to the sun and the rain.  Then only can it become a tree.  In the same way if you take the knowledge, the seed of ShivYog, and keep it limited only to the Pooja or meditation room, then nothing is going to happen.  You are only escaping the truths.  You must take that knowledge and apply it as the guiding principle of your life.  Let it witness the various incidents and the proverbial storms.  Only then can ShivYog be a tree full of fruits in this lifetime.  The teaching of Unconditional Love, of Sewa, of never complaining or brooding but creating your own life must become your nature.  Then only we deserve to be true Shiv Yogis.

ShivYog is not for daydreamers who sit, mouth open, staring at the sky saying,  “If God loves me, a tree will appear and a mango will fall into my mouth.”  Neither is ShivYog for the complainers who whine on even trivial matters with “why-this-is-bad-and-why-that-is-bad syndrome”. And most of all, ShivYog is not for the delusional, who go around claiming that God talks to them and that He is ordering you not to wear black or and neither is ShivYog for the delusional lot who pays heed to such claims.

Babaji says that as long as you fall in these categories, you play the blame-game, always stating “I am where I am because of this person or this condition or this situation or this planetary influence or doshas….“. In other words you are saying you are too lazy to get up and do what is needed and that you would be happy in this space of illusion.

So, now I exhort you - Wake up sadhaks! It is time! It is time to live a 200% life, time to find a balance between spirituality and the moral and ethical responsibility towards your family and yourself.  It is time to fulfill your responsibilities towards Mother Nature by helping any living being you can in any possible way.  Even if it means feeding the animals and birds or planting trees.

I realized it is finally time I share that secret with you which Baba had told me long ago holding me in his strong, loving arms.  “You are the creator of your own destiny so ask yourself how am I creating my destiny today?  How many people did I today give happiness?. How many hungry souls did I feed today?  How many trees or plants did I I plant or nourish this week?

I deserve health if I exercise, I deserve God if I meditate, I deserve knowledge if I study, I deserve wealth if I work hard.

Tapasya is the path of a ShivYogi and most of all simplicity.  We read the Durga Saptshati and Baba ji makes a mention of how in the Saptshati, Ma Bhagvati slays all the demons.  In the same manner I invoke the goddess to slay all the demons of vikaars (vices) in me.  I invoke Her through the path showed to me by my Guru.  The path of truthfulness and discipline.

Write in your Golden Book today,

• What is the price I am willing to pay for what I want? How much time will I spend on my development, that is exercise, study, etc. 
  
  

• How much time will I spend on my spirituality, that is Dhyan, Saptshati, Sewa?
  

• How will I repay to the Mother Nature through charity, plantation and other humane acts?
  

• How will I be a good family man by loving and respecting my family?
  

And, if in this manner you learn to live your life you will see automatically there is no time for any useless talks or actions as then knowingly or unknowingly each action will become constructive and divine.

So remember the secret.  Remember the Wisdom.

….. and to conclude higher than I began, I will need your cooperation.  Please repeat after me.                      I AM THE CREATOR OF MY OWN DESTINY.

Lots of blessings from Babaji and Ma,
Lots of love from me,

Namah Shivay
Ishan Shivanand


Taken from : http://www.fromthemaster.com/2013/01/seva-abhiyan.html