My mother used to always say, "nothing is Saswadham in this world." She always said, "if we are alive tomorrow let us see what we can do ". We used to tease her about these statements. But later on I realised that the first step towards spirituality is when you accept that nothing is saswadham (ever-lasting).
Then talking about God and his grace, we believe that he will rush to our help when we need it. This is true. But then our day-to-day judgments are clouded by our desires and attachments. We are not able to decide what is good and what is bad for us. Spiritually and even materially.
I will take the case of our jobs. We get a better paying job, which needs relocation to a far away place. After relocating we are beset with so many problems that we wish we had not left the earlier job. It happens often that we regret our earlier decision. If we did not get the job in the far away place we blame God for not fulfilling our wish.
A child wants to buy an ice candy, which is sold on the street. The mother knows that it is not good for the health of the child. She refuses to buy the candy. The child is unhappy because it does not know what is good for it. Sometimes if the child throws up a tantrum the mother will buy the candy. The child becomes ill. In life if you can adopt the same attitude towards God it is easier to handle any situation. Mother knows what is best should be the attitude.
The disciples of Bagavan Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa went through tremendous hardships in the early days when the mission was formed. Most of these were from well to-do families. None of them gave up when faced with starvation and other problems. Sant Tukaram faced so many hardships. Did he give up Vittala? Vittala also never gave up Sant Tukaram. If we read the history of the Saints of Hinduism we will find that all of them went through hardships. Did they give up? None of them did.
My belief and also from whatever I have read, you can tackle the situations by persevering with your Sadhana and total trust in God.
Guru's help will be only limited. If you face problems in your Sadhana Guru can help you. But if you have lost your job Guru can only reassure you that everything will turnout fine. If you are dependent on your job for your livelihood, MAA will ensure that you and your family are taken care of. But if one is occupying a high position of power and influence and suddenly loses that position, it only means that the power and fame were acting as a hindrance to one's spiritual advancement and therefore has been removed from your life. You lose a fortune because of upholding some principle then, it is MAA's will that you are better without the fortune.
But be assured MAA will never let any of her Bhakthas down. You take one step toward her and MAA will take ten steps towards you. You may not be able to meditate. Then you do Japa or prayer. There are no prerequisites for Sadhana. Sadhana has to be started early in life. But you do the type of Sadhana, which is suited to your age, family position, temperament etc. The Sadhanas for householders is necessarily different from that of the renunciates. In India even when you travel a distance of 200 kilometers by road, you face so many diversions and speed breakers. Our Ultimate goal is so far. Do not get disheartened by the diversions, speed breakers and breakdowns.
In India we are always told to read the biographies of saints and Sadhus. Whenever you are depressed you should read the stories of saints, disciples of Bagavan Sri Ramakrishna, Sadhus. You will get solace. Read the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Listen to Bhajans, devotional music. You will find the mood changing.
Many of the householder disciples like of Bagavan Sri Ramakrishna like Nag Mahasay and Yogin Maa were as great souls as the well-known renunciate disciples. You will also see how a person like Girish Ghosh was transformed by coming into contact with Bagavan Sri Ramakrishna and how even Hazra could get Mukthi. You draw inspiration from the lives and teachings of great men.
I have written only from my own experience. This is a subject where the experiences of everyone will vary.
Sankar
