He with whom the world is never annoyed and who is not himself
annoyed with the world, he who is free from elation, in tolerance, fear and
anxiety — he is dear to Me. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 Verse 15)
How often we are annoyed with the world, with people, with
conditions. Things do not go as we want them to go and we get annoyed, we become
miserable. But not so the yogi. He does not allow his mind to be disturbed. His
mind rests in God.
What does he care about annoyances, little troubles that
pass by like the ship on the horizon?
He dwells in Eternity. And so also he does not cause annoyance
to others. Why should he? He has nothing to gain by it.
He does not want anything. He is satisfied and contented. He
lives in the Atman. There he finds his joy and rest. And all that he asks for
is to remain fixed in That. Should he for a moment lose that consciousness of
the Spirit, then he tries with all his might to regain it. But the world cannot
give him that. So he does not go to the world for help. He makes no demand on society
or on any person. He gives no cause for annoyance.
And when he has any wishes and these wishes are fulfilled,
he does not become exalted or unduly agitated with joy; he is not carried away
by his success, neither does failure make him despondent. He is always peaceful
and contented.
Now we begin to understand why the wise man is so very dear
to the Lord. We think of jnanis as remote, cold and in different. But what is
the fact? They flow over with love, sympathy and compassion, because they have realized
the Truth. Hatred, selfishness and envy are all caused by ignorance, by seeing separation,
by not being able to remove the spectacle of maya, which distorts our vision.
The true vision is oneness, one Soul appearing as many. Difference
occurs only on this level of consciousness. When we rise above it with the help
of bhakti or jnana, then we see the delusion of it all. Then we realize that
the One alone exists, and that we are only His reflections.
Swami Atulananda
Source – Prabuddha Bharata Magazine July 2005