During Navaratri, on the night of Ashtami, when I was lying on my bed, I was thinking of Lakshmi and one statement of Swami Sivanandaji about Mother Lakshmi. While thinking about that statement, I heard a voice which said, ‘Talk to me.’ In my state, I recognized it to be the voice of Lakshmi, yet it was not a feminine voice, it was a neutral voice.
I addressed that voice, ‘You are God.’ The voice said, ‘I am neither masculine nor feminine. I am just energy. I am just consciousness. I don’t have a gender.’ This is a conversation that is happening, so I said, ‘You are all pervasive, you are omniscient and omnipotent. How does it feel to be that?’ The voice said, ‘It is tiring.’ I said, ‘Yes, I can understand it. You are here from the beginning of creation and you’ll be here at the end. You will also see the beginning of a new creation and the end of that new one. You will continue.’
The voice said, ‘Yes, but it is exhausting.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ The voice said, ‘You see, in my omniscience, in my omnipotence, in my omnipresence, I am connected with everything, every aspect of creation, including the speck of dust which you walk upon, for everything is made of energy, nothing is devoid of energy. I am everything. Because of my connectedness with everything and everyone in this entire creation, I also suffer like you suffer in your body when there is an imbalance.’
The thought came to my mind that this is the concept of vibhu or interconnectedness, Paramahamsaji has spoken about many times. I again asked the question, ‘How do you feel tired?’ The voice said, ‘In order to know how I feel, look at yourself. When your body is functioning well, you don’t feel tired, but if any part of the body becomes deficient in any manner, in any form, then tiredness sets in. Although each part of the body has its own function, yet if they are not together they cannot function. The body is realized only when all the parts and all the organs of the body function in synchronicity and in harmony with each other. When that does not happen in the world, then I get tired, I get sick.’ So I said, ‘Can you explain that a bit more? It is quite intriguing for God to feel tired and sick.’
So the voice continued, ‘Imagine your own body. If there is something wrong with the stomach your whole body will suffer. If there is a pain in your little toe, the whole body will feel it. If there is an itch in the arm, the whole body will react to it. Although these are all different functions of different organs, still the whole body is affected by the performance of each organ and system. Just as pain or swelling of a little finger can cause pain to you in the brain and stop your optimum performance, in the same manner when words and nature become destructive and tamasic, I feel that pain, I feel the swelling, I feel the suffering and that is my own.’
The voice continued, ‘Everybody goes through this, not only me. The example is in front of everyone, especially if you look around, whether it be a family organization, whether it be a commercial organization, whether it be your own ashram, if all people function together, then there is never going to be any problem. However, if each one goes their own way, nothing will function ever, and the whole purpose of coming together is defeated. When the purpose is defeated, then stress, anxiety, tension is what I feel.
Fortunately, my life is long. I live continuously, forever, so I am aware of each and every suffering from the first dawn of the sun to the last dawn of the sun. I am the experiencer, but that is me. It is not I which is enough, it is others too, who have to rise up to be with me. I cannot come down to the level of humanity all the time. People are going deeper and deeper into the abyss and I cannot go down that far, yet if they want they will have to rise up to come to me. The only way that can happen is that they remain healthy – physically, mentally, psychologically and spiritually. When the whole personality, when the whole of nature is healthy and happy, I am healthy and happy. If the personality and nature are unhealthy and unhappy, I also feel the suffering of un-healthiness and unhappiness.’
I said, ‘What can one do?’ The voice said, ‘The more people understand each other, the more people support each other, the more people appreciate each other, the more strength I will get, because positivity will prevail and negativity will diminish.’ That is the message that Swami Sivanandaji has been spreading – to become positive in life.’ The voice said, ‘Swami Sivananda did not teach systems or a path to emancipation or moksha. Swami Sivananda did not teach techniques to awaken kundalini or to attain silence in the mind. He only taught how to understand, how to love and how to live in service of others. Swami Satyananda too, after fulfilling the mandate of his Guru, taught the same. How to live, how to laugh, how to love, how to connect with everyone, how to develop the positive and the beautiful in you.’
The voice continued, ‘Even if one is able to understand a portion of this teaching, the strength of God will increase manifold, the health of God will increase manifold, and the happiness of God will increase manifold. This is the message that we have to remember, we have to be healthy and we have to be happy. The way to become healthy and happy, is to look not only at yourself, but also to the need of the time, the place and the environment.’
I said, ‘Yes God, I understand that very well. We all have to make the effort to understand how we can live in harmony with nature, with people, with the environment and express the positive and the beauty that is inherent within us. Why does the negative always have to come out? If the negative can come out, something very beautiful can come out also. You don’t make an effort to bring out the negative, but yes, you have to make the effort to bring out the positive and that is the challenge. It is easy to say ‘no’, it is easy to be disgruntled. It is difficult to say ‘yes’, and it is difficult to be happy. It is easy to express dissatisfaction, is difficult to be satisfied in life. To be positive is the challenge and the sadhana of every individual in life.'
15 October 2021, Ganga Darshan, Munger