Give Yourself to the One Who Gives Everything

Saint Tukaram asks a poignant question: What can you claim as yours?

You’ve landed on earth, so wake up, hurry up –
  give yourself to the One who gives everything.
Your body is owned by time and death,
  and your goods belong to the god of wealth –
  what can you claim as yours?
A giver gives, but it’s the Divine who’s giving,
  a taker takes, but the Divine is behind it –
  what power do you have?
A living being is simply an excuse
  for all that has to happen.
But you still believe in ‘me and mine’,
  so you waste your life, says Tuka.
You still believe in all that perishes,
  so you ignore the Lord and work for nothing.
_{Many Voices One Song}

Tukaram tells us to wake up. When we sleep, we believe our dreams to be real, but when we wake up they dissolve, having no meaning, no substance. Similarly, we believe that our stay on this earth, in the material world, is real, solid, permanent.

Tukaram reminds us that it won’t last: we will die – our body is owned by time and death. Already the unavoidable truth of aging is apparent. Our entire culture is geared to denying these markers of time. We conceal or disguise encroaching age as if nothing is amiss and avoid the uncomfortable truths of pain, suffering, loss and death. Essentially, however, this body is on loan to us, as are our wealth and possessions.

Tukaram says our goods belong to the god of wealth. We think we possess them, that they are ours now. And so ego gets linked to attachment. Wealth is a god to those who worship it and our goods belong to him. Tukaram reminds us that we cannot claim these goods any more than we can own our bodies. So, Tuka asks, what can we claim as ours? Not our children, spouses, friends, learning, nor our gifts and talents. They are given to us for a period, and eventually they either leave or are taken away.

Tukaram goes on to explain that everything belongs to the Lord, comes from the Lord, and the Lord is moving in and through everything.

A giver gives, but it’s the Divine who’s giving,
  a taker takes, but the Divine is behind it –
  what power do you have?

The saints teach that the creation is projected from the Lord. Everything is imbued with divine essence or life force, holding the entire universe together. Maharaj Charan Singh describes this life force or Shabd:

When the Lord withdraws that power from the universe, this whole universe will dissolve…. So there is something to hold this whole universe together, to prevent dissolution, … We call it Shabd, or nam.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I}

Others call this power energy, or God, Father, Lord, Tao, Kalma, Holy Spirit, Truth, Love, Word, or Logos, to mention a few. It is through that Word of the Lord that he brought this whole universe into existence. Maharaj Charan Singh is saying that the Lord is at the heart of everything. Unfortunately, we are unable to distinguish between truth and illusion.

We can look to the saints for clarity. Mystics teach that this world of phenomena is governed by the law of karma or cause and effect – our present circumstances being the outcome of our actions in past lives. We have constructed this so-called reality that we inhabit, but underlying everything in creation is the divine life force. As Tukaram says: “A living being is simply an excuse for all that has to happen.”

We don’t know the purpose of creation, but mystics have described it as the Lord’s play or leela. They have compared God to a grand puppeteer and we then are simply puppets in his play. The strings by which we are made to dance are our karmas. Maharaj Charan Singh clarifies this point:

As long as the puppet show is going on, we think it is a reality. But when the puppeteer finishes it, puts the puppets in the bag, we see there was no reality. So unless we reach that stage when we are all put into the bag, we cannot know. Now we are just dancing like puppets.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I}

Maharaj Charan Singh explains that there are two kinds of puppets: first are the ones who know that they have strings and are being pulled by the Lord. They have come to this realization through their meditation. They know that they have no power of their own. Then there are those who believe in their own independent free will and are certain that there are no strings, and no puppeteer. These are the followers of the mind, believing themselves to be in control of their actions and choices. To reiterate Tukaram:

You still believe in ‘me and mine’,
  so you waste your life, says Tuka.
You still believe in all that perishes,
  so you ignore the Lord and work for nothing.

The natural outcome of this is that we ignore what is permanent, whole, conscious, blissful, divine: the Lord. And if we ignore the Lord then all our work in this life is for nothing. And so Tukaram tells us to give ourselves to the One who gives everything, to the Lord, the great giver. Maharaj Charan Singh elaborates on this:

Whatever you want from him, whatever you ask him for, he will give you. He will never be tired of giving to you, but you have to come back again and again and again and again to get all that you want. So don’t think that all that you are desiring you will get in this life. You may have to take another life to get all that.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I}

As long as we are chasing after our own desires we are caught in the cycle of transmigration, coming back life after life to fulfil our wants, and to pay for their consequences: caught in the play of giving and taking.

In truth, whatever we have and are comes from the Divine: if we remember the Lord rather than his gifts, then we can fulfil the purpose of human life, which is God-realization. He will never deprive us of his gifts, he only wants to give.

We forget the Giver and enjoy only his gifts; but if we realize the Giver within us, we automatically get everything. He is the owner of everything, he knows what we need, and he will definitely give us what we need. But we are only to ask for him.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. II}

So give yourself to the One who gives everything.