Challenges prepare us to do greater deeds in Life

Your childhood experiences or present day experiences will show you that we often talk very fondly about our miserable times. “I walked all the way to the airport.” We also boast about them. There would be nothing to boast about if we had gone in a car. When you really had a tough time and you survived it with integrity, you can say, “Wow, I did it!” Tough times make us stronger. 

If you were not given any examinations in class, would you even attend them? Perhaps a handful of you, who are really sincere about education, would say, “Examinations, or no examinations, I’ve got to study.” They are a different breed. But, we are afraid of exams and if we are given the opportunity, we won’t take tests, right? This is the problem we need to correct. 

We need miseries to replicate the same in life. Life is full of different types of exams. Even masters are not spared from any tests. These exams don’t test your abilities. Challenges in life prepare us to do something greater. 

When untoward things happen in life, instead of fighting, we must learn from those moments. Try to solve them without being frustrated. If we get frustrated, our minds will be disturbed and when the very guide within us is disturbed, there will be no guidance from within. Then, we’ll not be able to make right decisions. 

So, when challenges are there, we have to become extra alert in a very nice way. Instead of fighting, invite it. That is why Babuji says again and again, “Accept miseries.” By not accepting them, we will never understand their purpose. What could they have done for us? To where it could have taken us and to what levels? All these will be missed out the moment we reject certain unwanted things in life. 

Go through it peacefully, with a quiet and a bold heart, and with a lot of courage. Once you go through certain situations in life, you will emerge stronger than before. If you don’t accept them, you will not learn anything. If you merely accept them, you will remain a mere human being. The masters’ expectations are not just mere acceptance. They want us to accept all these situations cheerfully and see the beauty that emerges after that. 

This requires a lot of courage and self-confidence. If you don’t have self-confidence, at least have confidence in the master, that having a master of such a great calibre, you can go through this. Then you will emerge as a winner. 

You may fail, but in the exam of life you have passed, and that’s what is sought. We don’t run away like cowards. We face life as it comes and we move on like that, and that’s how we build our destiny. Unlike others, who run away from life, we face it with courage and confidence. Challenges in life prepare us to do something greater. We all go through ordeals and difficulties in life, and no one is an exception to it. The difference between a normal human being and a master, a divine purusha, is they are able to accept difficulties and ordeals with a smile. But, we cannot. In one of the messages, Babuji says, “Ordeals accepted cheerfully will serve their purpose.” Otherwise, for ordeals that you have to go through, no matter what, whether you accept them or not, they will not serve the purpose, and you will only suffer and no good result can come out of that. 

Ordeals accepted cheerfully will bear spiritual fruits. So, we have to accept them.

For instance, once after an 80 minute Diwali day satsangh in Dubai, I was waiting outside the hall to share my experience with the master. You know how you say, “Master, I want to talk to you about this experience.” And he came out while singing, “I’ve got a headache,” in a Disney-like tune. I said this is a foolish fellow; he is singing his headache. 

So I asked him, “Sir, why are you singing your headache?” He said, “What else can I do?” Then, we started talking and I forgot all about my experiences. It wasn’t important. After you hear the master has a headache, your experience is a trivial thing then, nothing worth describing.

He mastered pain. In a way, you can say mastery is nothing but a life full of mastery of so many things: mastery of pain, pleasure and everything. Every situation is in your hand and within control in a balanced and moderate way. So, accept every situation, and if you want to go further, graduate beyond acceptance to cheerful acceptance. Further, where you have no idea whether you have accepted with cheerfulness or with gratitude or with a ‘hmm’, like that, it really doesn’t matter, you have accepted and moved on. 

Even blinking an eye without remaining aware of what has transpired, you have accepted and moved on. That is absolute acceptance, and total surrender. In that surrender, there is no anticipation, and you are always in the present. You are not anticipating anything better. You have accepted it. A person who goes on anticipating better moments can never be happy. You accept this and make peace with the world, with yourself and that is the end of your life. 

You have mastered your life. You can confidently and gracefully walk through any situation in life without being touched; ‘without being touched’ means without absorbing any impression, either on yourself or on another person. 

You are not creating impressions on yourself, but not on others as well. Your existence doesn’t create ripples any more. If at all, it sends out waves of purity and love, as creating impressions on others also is a problem.

—  Kamlesh D Patel is the fourth spiritual Guide in the Sahaj Marg system of Raja Yoga meditation. He is a role model for students of spirituality who seek that perfect blend of eastern heart and western mind. He travels extensively and is at home with people from all backgrounds and walks of life, giving special attention to the youth of today.