Love and innocence exist in the absence of ego 

A devotee was vexing the Lord with his wish list. His prayers had no gratitude or devotion, but only demands. God appeared and gave him three boons: the first to be granted right away, the second after a week, and the third at the end of the month.

The devotee wished, “Oh Lord, let my wife die, for she is creating hell in my life, and if she goes, my life will be heavenly.” The lord granted the boon and soon his wife died. The whole town came to the mourning and sang her praises and recounted her help, love, and service that they were witness to. Slowly, the husband realized he had committed a mistake in cashing the boon too early. He felt sad. A week passed, and it was time to cash the second boon. When the lord appeared, he instantly asked for his dead wife back.

As the days passed, the devotee started worrying about how to encash the third boon. He thought over the matter many times and slowly started feeling the burden in his heart. In the process, he felt exhausted. Promptly, the lord appeared in front of him on the appointed day and mischievously smiled at him. The devotee surrendered and said, “Oh Lord, you know what is good for me and thus my third boon may please be granted accordingly.” The Lord, out of compassion, answered, “That is exactly what I have been doing all along. I was ensuring what is good for you, but your greed and desires did not recognize the blessings.”

If we drop our egoistic desires, we discover that life is a blessing and not a burden. This is the central message of all religions. Among Hindus, the prayer of surrender is Krishnarpanam. It says, aagateswagatamkuryat, gachantamnanivartate, which means accept what comes and let go of what goes. In Islam, it is said, Inshallah (if God wills), while in Christianity, the expression is, “Thy will be done”.

The ego defines how life should be according to one’s dogmas, opinions, likes, and dislikes. One’s consciousness gets imprisoned by one’s own philosophy and, hence, is not open to cosmic life. The ability to see beauty as “it is” and not how “it should be” is a great tool in living. The beauty of what is will be seen only when the ego does not pollute one’s perception.

Love exists in the absence of ego. In the eye of love, a different quality of beauty opens up. Innocence is like the sun that rises within you. Ordinarily, man lives in the darkness of ego and is its prisoner. Such a life is futile. The darkness disappears if one is filled with the light of innocence. In that space, the real treasures of silence, joy, stillness, and forgiveness will be found. They constitute life. Make it a habit to invite innocence into your life and, from that, these divine treasures will follow. Then you will realize that life is a blessing. Swami Sukhabodhananda is an international management spiritual & corporate guru.

(Join Swami Sukhabodhananda for the Janmashtami Bhagavatam Utsav, an  eight-day online session from August 31. Email: [email protected]) 

<br /> A devotee was vexing the Lord with his wish list. His prayers had no gratitude or devotion, but only demands. God appeared and gave him three boons: the first to be granted right away, the second after a week, and the third at the end of the month.</p> <p>The devotee wished, “Oh Lord, let my wife die, for she is creating hell in my life, and if she goes, my life will be heavenly.” The lord granted the boon and soon his wife died. The whole town came to the mourning and sang her praises and recounted her help, love, and service that they were witness to. Slowly, the husband realized he had committed a mistake in cashing the boon too early. He felt sad. A week passed, and it was time to cash the second boon. When the lord appeared, he instantly asked for his dead wife back.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.84 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.84 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>As the days passed, the devotee started worrying about how to encash the third boon. He thought over the matter many times and slowly started feeling the burden in his heart. In the process, he felt exhausted. Promptly, the lord appeared in front of him on the appointed day and mischievously smiled at him. The devotee surrendered and said, “Oh Lord, you know what is good for me and thus my third boon may please be granted accordingly.” The Lord, out of compassion, answered, “That is exactly what I have been doing all along. I was ensuring what is good for you, but your greed and desires did not recognize the blessings.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });</p> <p>If we drop our egoistic desires, we discover that life is a blessing and not a burden. This is the central message of all religions. Among Hindus, the prayer of surrender is Krishnarpanam. It says, aagateswagatamkuryat, gachantamnanivartate, which means accept what comes and let go of what goes. In Islam, it is said, Inshallah (if God wills), while in Christianity, the expression is, “Thy will be done”.</p> <p>The ego defines how life should be according to one’s dogmas, opinions, likes, and dislikes. One’s consciousness gets imprisoned by one’s own philosophy and, hence, is not open to cosmic life. The ability to see beauty as “it is” and not how “it should be” is a great tool in living. The beauty of what is will be seen only when the ego does not pollute one’s perception.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.84 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.84 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Love exists in the absence of ego. In the eye of love, a different quality of beauty opens up. Innocence is like the sun that rises within you. Ordinarily, man lives in the darkness of ego and is its prisoner. Such a life is futile. The darkness disappears if one is filled with the light of innocence. In that space, the real treasures of silence, joy, stillness, and forgiveness will be found. They constitute life. Make it a habit to invite innocence into your life and, from that, these divine treasures will follow. Then you will realize that life is a blessing. Swami Sukhabodhananda is an international management spiritual & corporate guru.</p> <p>(Join Swami Sukhabodhananda for the Janmashtami Bhagavatam Utsav, an  eight-day online session from August 31. Email: support@prasannatrust.com) <br />