The other day I was at the beach and saw an interesting sight. There were a group of people who were getting buckets of water from somewhere and pouring it into the ocean. There were different sizes of buckets and the water in the buckets has different colors and flavors. Some had mixed sugar in the water to sweeten it. Some had added fruits to the water. Some had put some flowers. All of the water was being offered to the ocean.
I moved ahead wondering what these people were doing and saw an even more interesting sight. There was a long line of people with buckets and vessels holding water of various kinds again and they were giving it to an important looking man. This man was muttering something and throwing the water into the ocean. After some time he was picking up some ocean water and giving it back to the people who had given him the water. There was some sort of commotion, with someone who had given red colored water getting back only plain water and another was complaining that they gave a bucket and were only getting back a glass of water.
Does the above look and sound ludicrous? Obviously it is not real, but told as a story to establish a point of view. I am sure any right thinking individual will be wondering why someone is offering water to the ocean. If we look at what many of us do, this will not appear very strange. Many of us, in our religious beliefs go to places of worship and offer a variety of things to God. Some of us offer sweets. Some offer money. Some offer gold, silver, whatever. I am not sure, if even for a moment, we pause and think to whom are we offering this and for what purpose.
All religious beliefs agree that God is infinite and all giving, like the ocean which is infinite and is the source for rain which feeds rivers, lakes etc, in effect the source of water. Now to this infinite God, we offer our own so called objects as part of worship. The all munificent God, who gives us everything, to him, we are offering something! Is this not similar to offering water to an ocean? Further, even as we offer, we offer it through an agent of God, who takes our offerings and supposedly offers it to God. Many of us know that these so called offerings to the Lord end up lining someone's pockets or are wasted in ostentatious buildings or ceremonies or in some rare cases, used for social good.
Now, let us come to the question of why we offer something to God. In most cases, we have a wish. If I pass in the examination, I will give x. If I get a job, i will give y and so on. Why do we need to have a barter system with the Lord? Imagine a situation between a young child and its parents. Suppose the child says, I will give you a smile if you give me food; I will give you a kiss if you give me clothes. How does this sound? A child has a right to demand of its parents. It does not have to beg or barter something for getting something absolutely necessary for its survival. Would the parent ever deny giving it food or clothes just because the child did not offer a smile or a kiss? In the same way, all religions agree that God is merciful and all giving. If we are God's children do we need to bribe the Lord to give us what we need? Just like a parent knows what a child needs and gives it, will not God give to all of us?
Let's take this further. Suppose the child says, I will give a hug if you allow me to smoke, will the parent agree? Just as the parent will not accept any special gift if what is being asked is not good for the child, will any amount of our offerings to God make Him give us something which is not in our interests? Finally, one more analogy. Suppose a child tells its mother, it will give her a hug if she finished the homework, will any right minded parent agree? The parent will say, you do your homework and I will guide you, whether you give a hug or not. In exactly, the same way, if we want something and are trying to give offerings to God in return for that, God in all his kindness will ask us to do our action and he will guide us towards the goal.
Does this mean we should not offer anything to God? We should offer something which God does not have and what is that? It is our cruelty, our jealousy and any of our negativity. Just as an ocean in its vastness can ingest anything thrown at it and still be pure, we can genuinely offer our negativeness to the Lord, only with a definite intention to start over without the negativity. If I dislike someone, can I offer my "hatred" to God and start all over without hating the person? If I am jealous of someone's success, can I offer my "jealousy" to God and start afresh with happiness for the person?
If someone really wants to offer something to God, I am of the opinion that it should be with the attitude that everything belongs to him and whatever he has given me, I am giving it back. I am reminded of the fantastic shloka or prayer which goes as follows:
Kayena Vacha Manasendriyerva Buddyatmanava Prakraterswabhavath
Karomi yadyat sakalam parasmai narayanayeti samarapayami
Summary: Whatever I do with my body, mind, intellect or through force of habit anytime, I offer it to the supreme Lord.
As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.
I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.
1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
2. Attain Infinite Bliss
Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide
3. The Spirit Of Spirituality
The Spirit Of Spirituality
I moved ahead wondering what these people were doing and saw an even more interesting sight. There was a long line of people with buckets and vessels holding water of various kinds again and they were giving it to an important looking man. This man was muttering something and throwing the water into the ocean. After some time he was picking up some ocean water and giving it back to the people who had given him the water. There was some sort of commotion, with someone who had given red colored water getting back only plain water and another was complaining that they gave a bucket and were only getting back a glass of water.
Does the above look and sound ludicrous? Obviously it is not real, but told as a story to establish a point of view. I am sure any right thinking individual will be wondering why someone is offering water to the ocean. If we look at what many of us do, this will not appear very strange. Many of us, in our religious beliefs go to places of worship and offer a variety of things to God. Some of us offer sweets. Some offer money. Some offer gold, silver, whatever. I am not sure, if even for a moment, we pause and think to whom are we offering this and for what purpose.
All religious beliefs agree that God is infinite and all giving, like the ocean which is infinite and is the source for rain which feeds rivers, lakes etc, in effect the source of water. Now to this infinite God, we offer our own so called objects as part of worship. The all munificent God, who gives us everything, to him, we are offering something! Is this not similar to offering water to an ocean? Further, even as we offer, we offer it through an agent of God, who takes our offerings and supposedly offers it to God. Many of us know that these so called offerings to the Lord end up lining someone's pockets or are wasted in ostentatious buildings or ceremonies or in some rare cases, used for social good.
Now, let us come to the question of why we offer something to God. In most cases, we have a wish. If I pass in the examination, I will give x. If I get a job, i will give y and so on. Why do we need to have a barter system with the Lord? Imagine a situation between a young child and its parents. Suppose the child says, I will give you a smile if you give me food; I will give you a kiss if you give me clothes. How does this sound? A child has a right to demand of its parents. It does not have to beg or barter something for getting something absolutely necessary for its survival. Would the parent ever deny giving it food or clothes just because the child did not offer a smile or a kiss? In the same way, all religions agree that God is merciful and all giving. If we are God's children do we need to bribe the Lord to give us what we need? Just like a parent knows what a child needs and gives it, will not God give to all of us?
Let's take this further. Suppose the child says, I will give a hug if you allow me to smoke, will the parent agree? Just as the parent will not accept any special gift if what is being asked is not good for the child, will any amount of our offerings to God make Him give us something which is not in our interests? Finally, one more analogy. Suppose a child tells its mother, it will give her a hug if she finished the homework, will any right minded parent agree? The parent will say, you do your homework and I will guide you, whether you give a hug or not. In exactly, the same way, if we want something and are trying to give offerings to God in return for that, God in all his kindness will ask us to do our action and he will guide us towards the goal.
Does this mean we should not offer anything to God? We should offer something which God does not have and what is that? It is our cruelty, our jealousy and any of our negativity. Just as an ocean in its vastness can ingest anything thrown at it and still be pure, we can genuinely offer our negativeness to the Lord, only with a definite intention to start over without the negativity. If I dislike someone, can I offer my "hatred" to God and start all over without hating the person? If I am jealous of someone's success, can I offer my "jealousy" to God and start afresh with happiness for the person?
If someone really wants to offer something to God, I am of the opinion that it should be with the attitude that everything belongs to him and whatever he has given me, I am giving it back. I am reminded of the fantastic shloka or prayer which goes as follows:
Kayena Vacha Manasendriyerva Buddyatmanava Prakraterswabhavath
Karomi yadyat sakalam parasmai narayanayeti samarapayami
Summary: Whatever I do with my body, mind, intellect or through force of habit anytime, I offer it to the supreme Lord.
As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.
I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.
1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
2. Attain Infinite Bliss
Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide
3. The Spirit Of Spirituality
The Spirit Of Spirituality
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