Surrender

Swami Chinmayananda

oi-Staff

By Staff

Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 17:54

Exhausted physically and mentally, we at last reached the foot of a large banyan tree near a village on the bank of the river. For days we had been almost starving for lack of food. The villagers now fetched us food, partly out of reverence for us and partly out of regard for their prince who was escorting us. We can hardly forget that pleasant night when after such intense privations, we enjoyed a full meal and sound sleep without fear and anxiety.

God is everywhere and at all times; He sees everything. He understands the needs of all and supplies them as He knows fit. But man is hardly aware of this truth; even if he is aware of it, he does not fully believe it. Some evil in him obstructs complete self surrender.

Once a devout 18-year-old Christian girl left her hearth and home to follow the Lord. When she renounced all earthly possessions, she kept just a penny with her for the next meal. Then she heard a voice from the sky. "Did you give up everything else to trust in this one penny?"

At once she replied. "My Lord! I came out trusting you, not the penny, and immediately flung away the coin. 'Trusting solely in the care of the Lord, she proceeded on her way"

Although I was travelling as a guest of wealthy and powerful princes and under their arrangements, I was unwilling to provide myself with a large quantity of food because of my simple faith in God and my spirit of renunciation. This sometimes caused serious difficulties on the way, but the Lord of the universe was everywhere sheltering me under His care.

When Mahatmas' wander all alone even in deserts, wasting not a thought on the morrow of what to eat or where to rest. God protects them against all harm. For people who repose implicit faith in God and His infinite mercy, can there by anything like want? Even in the solitary Himalayan recesses where one hardly ever hears of food, they experience plenty. God is ever ready to attend to the welfare of His devotees, just as He provides for the birds in the air. Not only in the matter of food, but also in other matters, God used to stretch forth His helping hand and pull us out of every difficulty.

Wanderings in the Himalayas

About the author

Swami Tapovan Maharaj

Swami Tapovan Maharaj was that pristine glacier of Self-knowledge through whom flowed the Ganga of Vedantic Wisdom of Swami Chinmayananda, the architect of the Chinmaya Movement. Swami Tapovanam was a saint of the highest order, a consummate Vedantin, strict teacher, a compassionate mentor, and a poet whose every thought throbbed with ecstatic awareness, and a sage of unsurpassed wisdom and tranquility. This article is from his work, Himagiri Viharam (Wanderings in the Himalayas)