Why Me?

How many times in our life have we asked the question: “Master, why me? Why is this happening to me?” This could be anything from a death in the family to failing an exam. We start to feel sorry for ourselves and then lose our balance. This in turn makes us restless, and in some instances may even make us question the spiritual path we are on. We know there is a purpose for everything that happens to us in this world. However, from our limited viewpoint, life’s events may sometimes appear ‘unfair’.

So why are we here, going through the ups and downs of life? The answer is our karma. Whatever we are going through in this birth is a result of our past actions in previous lives. We are merely reaping now what we have sown in the past. It can be difficult at times. When we yearn for our beloved and need his help to deal with our worldly problems and it seems that he isn’t there. Yet, this is the time when he is nearest to us. He is so close. Due to our karmas we are unable to be receptive to him. He hears our cries and helps us in more ways than we know.

How do I know that my Beloved is here with me? Why is he so quiet when I need him? The silence is where it all happens. He is the helmsman of our lives and nothing can happen without his will. We need to remember this fact constantly.

The Lord is everywhere and is fully aware of our predicament. He is all merciful by nature and will do what he thinks is best. Maharaj Sawan Singh, in The Dawn of Light, reiterates the fact that the Master is in charge of the events of our life:

Take for granted that all that has happened is happening or will happen, is with his will. So whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, we should remain contented. If he sends us misery, we should accept it with pleasure, and if he keeps us happy we should take it as his children. So do not consider that your life is not a bed of roses. Take it as his gift and be happy in it.

We are at our spiritual peak when things are going against us in this world. This is when the yearning for the beloved becomes unbearable, when our heart is filled with the pang of separation, the pang of loneliness. This is all his grace, as it is at these times that we seek him within us and start slowly to detach ourselves from this world.

We are going through the karma we have to go through. We need to remember that he knows our tolerance level. We are in no position to analyze how he is handling our karmic account. Our main duty is to cultivate and strengthen our love for the Beloved through meditation.

Let’s look at a simple example. When a mother gives her child some medicine, doesn’t she feel the pain of her child crying out because the child doesn’t want to take it? Yet, ultimately she knows that the child has to take the medicine so that she can get better. Similarly, the Master makes us go through our karma but at the same time is fully aware of our pain, and is ever present to give us the strength to carry us through our karma.

Maharaj Sawan Singh writes in Spiritual Gems:

The Lord is within us. He wants to wash away our karma, to make us pure and fit to get into his presence. Our only course amidst sufferings of any kind is first to bear them patiently with courage and fortitude and, secondly, to pray to the Lord for forgiveness. The Lord hears our prayers and showers concessions which we cannot see unless we go in.

The Master is humility personified. Even though he does so much for us, both on physical and spiritual planes, he never admits he is doing anything. Recently, Baba Ji said that if we really knew what the Lord did for us and what he protects us from, we would all bow our heads in shame. We underestimate the supreme power of the Master. Just because the physical form of the Master is not with us does not mean that he is not there. Without doubt when we are with him physically it makes us happy and changes our mood. However, we should not limit the Master to the physical. He is everywhere. We should not limit the limitless. He is constantly guiding us in everything we do.

We spend the majority of our time thinking about past events and pondering what might have happened if we had done this or that. Then we go on to analyze our mistakes and start to worry and regret the past. However, if we look at our actions, can worrying about the past or even the future change anything? No! He is in charge of our karma and can do what he pleases. The Master is all love and is ever merciful when he sees our efforts. We need to trust him and turn into “silent observers” of our destiny.

What is in our hands? Can we really change what marks we are going to get in our exam or who we will marry or even how much money we will make while in this human body? No. We need to leave all these transient things to a higher, all-knowing power and do the work we were given this human life to do – meditation.

If we take the saints’ teachings to heart we should stop worrying. However, as most of us know, we worry about things even though we ‘know’ that our Master is in charge. It’s as though it’s part and parcel of our nature as human beings. The solution to this is simran, the repetition of the five holy names, given to us by our beloved at the time of initiation. We need to channel our thoughts into these names rather than on things which are beyond our control.

The present Master has continually emphasized the need for us to let go of our problems. But we find that sometimes we lack the faith in our beloved, so we don’t. We need to understand that the Master always has our best interests at heart. By worrying, nothing will change. We will just get frustrated and be unable to do our meditation.

Recently at a meeting, Baba Ji emphatically said that meditation acts as our life support system. He stressed the importance of meditation in everything we do. The more we do our duty to him the more we will realize that he is doing everything for us and that we are in effect just going through the motions of life.

We are all going to our eternal home – each and every one of us. It is just a matter of time before we merge back into our source. So why don’t we live in his will and let our Master take care of our destiny for us?

Who is really happy in life? We tend to get so easily bogged down with problems that we forget that this is all an act. We are acting a part in a play where the director is our Master. We are all puppets, with the Master pulling the strings. We need to remember that nothing is in our hands. The Lord is the doer. Let us do our real work in this world – practising our devotion to our beloved through meditation, and let our beloved look after our worldly affairs. This will give us peace of mind and help us to bear life’s ups and downs without losing our balance. If we follow his guidance, instead of saying “Why me, Lord?” we may one day come to say, “Why not me!”

Satsangis should cheerfully and patiently go through the results of their karmas, following the Satguru’s instructions and relying on his mercy. He minimizes most of our troubles. We see only what we have to pass through but not what we have been spared.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Light on Sant Mat}

Master is always with you and watching you and helping you in every action. Go on increasing your love and faith in him by regularly attending to the spiritual exercises. He himself will look after our worldly affairs.
_{Maharaj Sawan Singh, The Dawn of Light}

If we work at the Nam practice, we will experience happiness from it. Let go of words and idle talk; catch hold of Nam and do the practice! It’s a fact that listening to the saints gives us momentary faith, but the moment there’s a little suffering or pain, we waver in our resolve. If we apply ourself, however, we will experience the sweetness. What we need is to experience the bliss of Nam.
_{Maharaj Jagat Singh, Discourses on Sant Mat, Vol. II}