For years we’ve been taught that patience pays, that in the long run things even out. Then why do some students maintain the joy, the duty, the continuum, while other don’t seem to realize enough of their desires.
There are many reasons, but one word trumps them all...Karma. Everyone’s karma is their own, unique to them. It is written in the scriptures that you either have that mark on your forehead or you don’t; that you're destined toward God, or fatefully fall short.
How do you know if you're so destined? You don’t, and that’s just the way it should be. You never know until it happens. Then it’s unmistakable. But, until then, challenge after challenge to commitment occurs. That’s normal. It’s called shakti-pad.
How long it lasts is up to God, not you. That’s the kicker. You can’t be the judge. It happens on God’s time, not yours. And, God loves keeper-uppers. That devotion is what attracts God’s attention. Your continued devotion through keeping up will be rewarded and your salvation, your liberation is bestowed whether you experience it in this lifetime or not. Keeping up is wonderful.
All well and good, but how do you keep up when a dream is no longer experienced? Patience works. Patience leads to neutrality, and neutrality leads to understanding, and understanding leads to relaxation, and relaxation leads to healing, and healing leads to elevation. Patience allows the journey to be relaxed. Patience leads to happiness. After all, the goal of life is happiness. That was our teacher’s projection and he taught us how to master it through a life of spiritual living.
Keeping up requires going back to basics. Yoga, meditation, Gurdwara, Bana, Bani, Seva, and Simran. These daily practices give you the experience of your self within your self. The stronger your commitment to a daily practice of the teachings, the more you experience the subtlety of life. Your loyalty to your soul’s elevation translates to an ever growing experience of joy, neutrality and ease. You become more aware to what you are loyal. Loyalty demands patience, patience as through thick and thin, through doubts and challenges. There comes a letting go of tension, worry and anxiety as you learn, with every breath, to surrender into the subtle essence of God and His Will.
It turns out that patience wins the day. Patience is Godly. Patience demands a neutral perspective. Patience makes loyalty worthwhile. Patience bestows happiness. Stay tuned,
In the Humility of Service and Gratitude,
MSS Hari Jiwan Singh Khalsa
Chief of Protocol
Sangat Representative
