Total Surrender to God
He is a true and sincere devotee who, does everything with the genuine faith that it is service to, God. One can only free oneself of doership by being such a devotee. To, desire nothing but God is the mark of a devotee. Actions, even good and kind ones, lead to, bondage if done with a sense of doership. Therefore, perform every act in the remembrance of God. It is no breach of ritual if one forgets the prescribed daily ablutions because of being engrossed in nama-smarana. Only the time spent in the contemplation of God is spent happily. We forget ourselves while enjoying sensuous pleasures; it would be far better to, forget ourselves in meditation.
Implicitly obeying the sadguru is tantamount to surrendering one's volition. Such obedience effortlessly wipes out pride of doership. In the early stages, our volition often raises its head and tries to, defeat the attempt of passive obedience to the sadguru, but stubborn determination overpowers this volition, which then gradually dies out. Never disobey the sadguru even if it costs you your life. Obeying the sadguru is the means par excellence to stamp out body-consciousness.
Take care of your duty as well as of your morals, and keep company with the godly. Saints and householders may both lead a family life, but the former attribute doership to God, while the latter claim credit for themselves. If you assume doership, you will naturally have to, bear the good or bad consequence.
If a man's wife falls ill, he spends sleepless nights to, nurse her; can he not then similarly forget himself and strive tirelessly for God? This is certainly possible where there is real yearning for God. To the question, "When is true liberation obtained? " Shri Samartha Ramadas has given a very cogent answer in the words: "the moment you forget yourself in remembrance of God ". To forget oneself thus is to, realize nirguna.
Association with a person generates affection for him; will association with God not create love for Him, then? The essence of religion and the shastras is to achieve complete surrender to Him and live solely for Him.
Our true self is distinct from both the body and the mind. Try to live so, by engaging yourself in nama-smarana. Nama is so potent that it will achieve that end; no other means can achieve that.* * * * *
