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IMAGINE yourself on a jaunt in a foreign land.
Suddenly you see a person rushing towards you with both hands upraised
shouting in an alien tongue. Instinctively you raise both hands to counter-
attack. But that person rushes by you and heart heavy blows landing on
someone. Surprised, you turn around and understanding dawns. A ruffian had
been creeping up to attack you from behind and the person ahead had only
been rushing to save you . He had been warning you in his foreign tongue,
but being unable to comprehend his words you had completely misunderstood
his intentions. Your regret? If only I had known his language---
Could this be the way we misunderstand God when problems suddenly rush into
lives? There is amazing intelligence that arranges for all our basic
needs--- air, heat, light, water and food. Equally awesome is the
organisation that enables all the life-sustaining bodily mechanisms like
metabolism, respiration, blood circulation. Only after shedding intellectual
sweat for centuries have scientists begun to understand partially the
functioning of the universe. Sadly, most people hardly spare even a thought
to understand the purpose of the universe. And when things don't work out
according to the plans they make in a few minutes or hours with the few
grams of their puny brains, they conclude that God is perverse, negligent or
non-existent. Like in the story above, they can't understand the language in
which God is speaking to us.
Therefore, God gave us scriptures to serve as translators for us
to understand His message and plan. The Vedic scriptures-- and religious
scriptures --- assert unequivocally that God is our greatest well wisher.
Through them God alerts us of the imminent onslaught of misery, old age,
disease and death. God's ultimate plan is to save us from all suffering and
reinstate us in our eternal blissful life in His abode. As a part of His
plan, God often breaks things to transform them into something far more
valuable. He breaks clouds to give rains, breaks soil to give grains, breaks
grains to give bread and breaks bread to give nourishment. Similarly He sometimes
has to break our plans for temporary material enjoyment to enrich us with
everlasting devotional bliss. Therefore, the next time when Providence seems
to inimically charging at us, let us empower ourselves with divine wisdom to
respond with faith and surrender.
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