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I have had an excellent childhood, a brilliant adolescence, a fortunate family and work life as well as an extremely successful student life all because my ancestors provided me the firm foundation of living and the joy of devotion. Prayers were an integral part of my life and belief in the Supreme Being gave me happiness to co-exist well in this world.
I have been a believer but not a blind follower of traditions thus I was taught not to be hypocritical, sanctimonious or prudish. I have seen some failures, a few hardships and many downfalls but because of my strong belief in my prayers I have experienced abundance of success, happiness and peace in my short life because I kept learning from my failures, downfalls and hardships.
Whenever I found that doing my best was not enough then I just went on to do what was required of me as a sentient human being. For this reason I am more a follower of humanism rather than attaching myself to any particular religion. I always liked being taught and that is the reason I am always ready and eager to learn.
I believe in the idea of truth, beauty and goodness of words, actions, thoughts, character and heart and thus only I can make myself happy by the grace of Almighty God. A person with strong positive mental attitude will be able to create a lot of miracles than any other wonders of the world. Therefore, I do not worry on what I have done but I want to look at what remains to be done.
In my more than three scores and ten years of living a happy and rewarding life I have learnt that if you cannot forgive than the world would call you weak but if you have learnt to forgive, it becomes the attitude of the strong. So I concluded that only I can make myself happy but I have to believe in myself. I must become the creator of my own destiny to be able to live a peaceful and rewarding life.
I have learnt that courage to change things and your beliefs does not shout and roar but it is a quiet voice at the end of the day. I do not only preach this sermon but I live it wholeheartedly.
I believe that the believers in any faith can find unconditional happiness, peace, and joy in devotion to the God that they worship. The closer our relationship to God, the happier we will be. Practicing devotion helps us let go of our internal barriers to experiencing that closeness.
Attachment to our self-centered desires creates those barriers. Devotion helps us turn our attention away from egoism of obsessions and toward the loving presence of God.
Believers and nonbelievers alike can find unconditional happiness by loosening their attachment to selfish interests. For believers, devotion to God provides a means of doing this. As our love for and devotion to God grows, our focus on our own self diminishes.
Devotion I believe Is Not Bargaining. Religion today, as commonly practiced, is sometimes more about bargaining than devotion. It seems that there is a lot of attention given to chalking up points by doing good works in order to secure a pleasant place in the next world or lifetime.
Often the devotees conduct their prayers by bargaining with God. They have a lot of “Ifs”. ‘If I am successful I will conduct a special prayer for you God.’ There is no devotion in this aspect of praying but it is just bargaining.
Devotion is not bargaining. One practices devotion selflessly. If we rid our hearts of selfish motives and we devote heart, mind, and soul to God, then anything we do will be devotional.
In large part, the message of devotion focuses on giving up attachments to selfish needs and desires. If you focus exclusively on yourself, your problems, and your desires, you will have little or no attention left over for God.
You can search the world over for something that will make you happy but what happens in this world cannot bring you lasting happiness. True devotion to God, on the other hand, can allow you to experience the happiness that is already there.
It is very hard to let go of our day-to-day concerns, as the mind, focused mostly on it, is incredibly demanding. It does not give up easily on its mission, which is to keep us fed, clothed, alive, and be that special person. To let go of our concerns and devote ourselves to God takes a lot of faith and trust.
Charity in my view is, in many ways, the twin of non-attachment. If we love ourselves, our possessions and our lives above all else, it is hard to part with any of it, even if there is someone in need.
On the other hand, a person who is not attached to what he or she has (be it possessions or reputation), is always willing to give freely of their time, energy, and goods to those in need.
I believe that acts performed in the name of charity are not charitable unless they are selfless. A truly charitable person will always perform charitable acts. A selfish person, on the other hand, will always act selfishly, even while performing acts that appear to be charitable.
A devotional relationship with God is also a loving relationship. Of course, this love is not limited to God. It is our love for our fellow human beings and the reason we should develop this is that we love God. I understand this in the sense of having infinite love.
To be truly devoted, we have to be humble. As we turn our attention to the source of happiness (which may be God), we turn our attention away from ourselves and our self-centered desires. In religious and spiritual terms, this is the practice of humility. As a devoted person, our focus should be on God and away from ourselves. Nowhere is this truer than in our prayers.
Prayer plays a central role in devotion. I believe that its purpose is to move us closer in awareness to God. If you practice sincere prayer, focused only on God, with no thought of yourself and your needs, then you can truly quiet or calm your mind and begin to hear God speaking to you.
Prayer should not be petitionary -- asking for what we want or need. God knows what you need before you ask Him. Not only does God already know what we need and want but if we make ourselves and our needs the focus of our prayer, how can we hear when God answers us? That is, if our attention is on ourselves while we pray, we are drawing our attention away from God. In doing so, we deny ourselves communion with God.
I do not make prayer be about yourself or what you need, for that is self-defeating. It is always good to approach prayer with humility.
Ideally, your humility should be so complete that it is as if you are not even there. It does not speak in terms of humility but about letting go of all thoughts as they come up and maintaining your focus on your object of meditation. Essentially, this is the way you practice humility. As thoughts of yourself come up, just let them go and keep your focus on God.
Humility does not mean we approach life or prayer with the thought that we are of little value because that would be focusing on ourselves and taking pride in our imagined humility. It is not by abasing ourselves or in acetic practices that we achieve humility. Instead, it is by not thinking of ourselves at all. It is by letting go of our incessant focus on ourselves.
Focusing on oneself as a humble person is obviously just another way of shining the spotlight back on oneself. In a sense, it is a way of exalting ourselves in our own eyes. Some of us go so far as to make a fetish of being humble. Their thoughts are boringly, on nothing but their virtue and humility and they exalt themselves over others who seem not sufficiently humble.
This way of being is nothing but self-flattery, which draws a person farther and farther away from God. If you have focused all of your attention on God and away from yourself then you are approaching life and prayer with true humility. As you remove your attention and awareness from yourself and your concerns, it will naturally move toward God.
Anyone can practice this kind of humility, no matter how high or low he or she is held in the esteem of society. If you turn your thoughts toward God, this is true humility.
If I want my dreams to come true the first thing I do is to wake up and knock the “T” that exists in my troubles, treats and can’t to let it be my CAN.
