Joy means a feeling of happiness!
When we get what we want, we feel happy and joyous ☺.
But if we don’t get what we want, we become unhappy ☹ ?
Unhappiness is what we all are concerned with; we dislike it, we loathe it. So, until we get what we want, we remain in a constant fear that, ‘What if I don’t get it?’
And after we’ve got what we want, we don’t want to lose it, do we? Therefore, even when we’ve achieved any joy in life, we continue to suffer from fear, this time it is, ‘what if this goes away?’
Thus, in life, although our constant endeavour is to achieve joy, in the process, neither do our suspicions subside nor does our fear die. And when in fear, one only suffers. This is how the couplet (of suspicion and fear) ensures that we never enjoy a state of stable joy in our entire lifetime. Hence, it’s true that the state of stable joy can never be achieved without being free from fear and suspicion.
Fear and Suspicion go away through the Gnan of the Gnani
Even if we try not to be afraid, fear will inevitably creep in and it will continue to make us suspicious. It is only the right understanding and right knowledge that can help us get ourselves free from fear.
Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, an enlightened Spiritual Master specifies, “Everything is karma-dependent.” He thereby assures, “That which is ours will go only if it is meant to (if there is a karmic account to that effect). Therefore, there is no reason for you to fear anything.”
Where there is Dislike, There is Fear
Fear arises when we perceive the person, the thing or the situation (as the case may be), to be bad. This is the major cause of fear in this world. We will be afraid of whoever or whatever we hate or dislike. Then, this fear keeps increasing day by day.
How do we get rid of the dislike?
Pujya Dadashri teaches what to do, “What will happen if one keeps saying ‘it’s bad, it’s bad’? It results into dislike. There, if you keep saying good things like, ‘it’s good, it’s good’, the dislike will disappear.”
And if the dislike is for some person, then fear for that person will arise. Here, we have to do pratikraman (ask for forgiveness from the God residing in that person) for that person in our mind, and also, by saying 5 to 50 times that “he is a good person”, the wrong belief that has got set inside us gets dissolved. Then there is no fear. The relations with that person become good and we achieve joy in his presence then.
Pujya Dadashri urges, “The moment you have the slightest bad thought about anyone, wash it away immediately with pratikraman. If these thoughts are allowed to linger even a short while, they will reach the other person and proliferate. They can grow in a matter of hours and continue for days. You should not allow your vibrations to flow in this way.”
Greed breeds fear
Worldly happiness, by its nature, is transient. Yet, we have the fear, ‘This joy or pleasure of mine will go away.’ Dadashri pleads to us, “Why don’t you let it go? Only then will that bliss (the eternal bliss which is the inherent nature of the Soul, the Self) arrive.”
Due to greed, we have the fear of losing the happiness or joy. On the contrary, we will become happier and will experience bliss, once we are free of greed. So, if we make a firm decision that we want to be free from greed, we will be free from it. Also, we will be free from the subsequent fear then and will experience a state of stable joy.
Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan declares, “Soul is endowed with resultant bliss! One himself is Soul, no one else can take its happiness away from him. One is free of all pain and suffering by nature. He has tremendous (powerful) grandeur (splendor)! How can any misery affect him?”
The ultimate secret to the state of stable joy is Self-Realization
The day we realize that we are really a pure Soul which is an abode of infinite bliss, we become fearless and we achieve the path to attain the state of stable joy. Through Akram Vignan, we can attain Self-Realization in a matter of two hours only, as Gnani directly, with his spiritual powers, gives us the experiential knowledge of the Self.
Fear vanishes with the Gnan (Self-Realization) that Gnani gives and the awareness of the Self that he establishes us in!
- This awareness of the Self brings about a state of stable joy, for it is not karma-dependent.
- After Self-Realization, while we are trying to maintain this awareness by following Gnani’s words, even at that time, there is a state of stable joy, for there is enthusiasm, but no greed for it.
- Also, when we fail to maintain the awareness, there is no hatred or dislike that arises; we just go ahead and reset the awareness without any fear. Thus, in the awareness of the Self, a state of stable joy is achieved, while being free from fear!
And until we attain Self-Realization?…
After getting off the long rounds of merry-go-round, when you are feeling highly unstable, what do you do? You grab onto someone who is stable and hold his / her hand through until you come in the state of stability, isn’t it?
Similarly, Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan is in the state of absolute stability; an absolute state of stable joy all the time. Therefore, whenever we experience fear, we can remember him and say, ‘Dada, why should I fear when you are with me!’ “Saying this will immediately dissipate your fears”, is an assurance given by Pujya Dadashri!
May every living being in this world be free from fear and achieve the state of stable joy, in the shelter of Gnani!