What are some practical steps to live side by side with uncertainty and yet flourish to some extent?
One doesn’t need to realise the Divine to deal with uncertainty in the world. Even a rational discernment, the observation of things as they are will show us that in this ever changing world, jagatyam jagat, or anityam asukham, this transient unhappy world as the Gita says it or dukham, suffering as the Buddha puts it, there is nothing that is stable and will last always. Once the mind understands and accepts this as the nature of life then it is no more shocked or taken by surprise at the unwanted changes. At the same time, if one wants or desires happiness or is attached to comfort of any kind then one should know that its opposite is also there as part of the game of life. A philosophical indifference, a stoic endurance, a religous acceptance, a relative detachment is the shield that one learns to use against the onslaught of uncertainty. But very often this shield breaks down easily because it is held by one’s own personal efforts like the baby monkey.
But there a much easier and happier way to deal with uncertainty. It is to abandon oneself completely at the feet of the Divine Mother, not just intellectually offer oneself but emotionally give oneself, surrender oneself entirely to the Divine with the complete faith and absolute trust in the Divine Grace. Implicit within this is the Intuitive sense that whatever happens will be for the good. It is by opening one’s heart widely to the Divine Mother, perceiving Her everywhere, in everything and in everyone that the riddle of life is best solved. It not only helps us navigate through the changing circumstances knowing Her in everything but also often modifies the circumstances itself because one is no longer relying upon one’s own efforts, – one has the humility to admit its limitations, but upon the Divine Mother carrying us through the various scenes and shifting situations of life.
The practical step is to make the Divine as the one and only goal of life, all else secondary and subordinate, its only relative importance being whether it helps one grow closer to Her or puts a veil between us and Her. The other practical step is the inner Remembrance of the Divine Mother. The most powerful practical step of course is nishkama karma, to engage with life and do everything without expectation of any return or fruit leaving it to Her to give or deny or even take away whatever She Wills from our life, including job, money, comforts, relationships and know that whatever She does or happens is for the best.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
