Query:
Leave our family to achieve what we desire in this life? All our sacred scriptures
advice us to fulfill duties to our parents, wife, children and other relations.What
is the remedy?
Vijay
Kumar:
Any prayer
to God has to be unconditional always and ever! No prayer to God can simply have
any strings attached! Such prayers would not get accepted... the path to God is
one-sided... it is we who need self realization in our journey towards God...
not God Almighty! Whatever be our karma... the total results of our karma belong
to us alone.
I
have always is stated... I would have! Even if God desired my leaving the family
in between... would I have! How could have I attained god realization without
burning my karma in totality! I was always prepared to walk the extra step...
take extra pains but leaving the family in between without the permission of God
Almighty was never in question... always ruled out.
The
day I asked permission from both of my girls, "that I wanted to leave the
confines of the family in search of God... for the betterment of the society"
they simply could not understand what I was talking of! Young girls were totally
caught unaware! Both of them... quite young kept weeping for almost three days
in continuation!
No
school... nothing on earth could persuade them! They had the mettle and grit their
father was made of! They were not willing to accept anything for an answer except
my will to continue in the family as their father. I only sought their permission...
I would never have left them lurking alone in the dark. They were young... simply
unable to understand the gist of the matter!
The
moment I clarified to them that never in life would I leave without their permission...
they felt consoled! But their life changed forever... probably the absolute faith
they had in their father was shattered. For the balance of my physical manifest
life I shall always regret that day! My presentation of the matter to them probably
was wrong!
How
could children eight to 10 years of age understand such a delicate matter! Their
father all of a sudden wanting to leave them all alone! Life in the physical manifest
world at times becomes difficult to handle. We need to burn our karma in totality...
we need to absolve ourselves of our karma in totality before thinking of leaving
the confines of the family!
In
the scriptures the responsibility of the parents ends after marriage of children.
Even if the children are not married... parents are necessitated to take care
of their children up to about 25 years of age. Thereafter it is free for all.
Choosing our goal of life in married life... in Grihastha ashram (family life)
is a very delicate matter.
We
simply cannot leave the confines of the family by touching the feet of the wife
and child as Siddhartha Gautama did. If we try leaving the confines of the family
without burning our karma in totality... we would never get near our goal ever!
In the domain of God such workings are absolutely prohibited! We need take care
of our responsibilities in the physical manifest life.
Until
now... I am bound by the responsibilities of life! My younger daughter is still
to be married! The moment I am over with my responsibilities... I shall proceed
towards a bigger goal of life... the final... something that becomes clear to
the masses around 2014! It is a different matter that living in family life I
gained self-realization... something really difficult in modern times!
How
many times I had to eat hell for breakfast... how many contemplations of suicide...
I simply have lost account! Life in the spiritual domain is walking an uncharted
territory... full of hurdles and charms! We never know when a Maneka might seduce
us on the way! At every stage of life there is not one but many Manekas wanting
to stop us from undertaking the arduous journey!
Sage
Vishwamitra on the sight of a beautiful maiden taking bath in forlorn jungles
lost himself! He had to undergo a practice of celibacy again for a period of 12
years in continuation! Before you embark on the spiritual path... form a definite
goal in life! Visualize all the difficulties you might encounter on the way...
be prepared to tackle them head-on!
Living
in Grihastha ashram (family life) is one realizes self... there is nothing better
than that! We can definitely travel the spiritual journey as and when we desire
but must always remain prepared for the consequences... the untoward happenings
which we never anticipated or thought of! God Almighty ordained a journey of 12.1
million earthly years for human beings to gain enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)
and finally salvation (moksha)!
To
cut short the journey is really noble but extremely difficult! There is no query
on the spiritual path that I would not be able to answer. You are welcome to address
any query as and when you desire! I would never advise one to follow the spiritual
path... leaving family responsibilities midway! We must address our responsibilities
properly before traveling the ultimate path of life... the path to gaining enlightenment
and finally salvation!
More
Advaita Vedanta related links...
Gaining
Enlightenment - Path
of Enlightenment - Kali
Yuga and Enlightenment - Enlightenment
and Karma - Stage
of Enlightenment - Enlightenment
May
God bless all!
Always
there to clarify your queries (send
your query),
Full text of query:
In a couple of articles you mentioned that you did not hesitate to leave your
family (including your beloved daughters) to achieve what you desire to in this
life. All our sacred scriptures advice us to fulfill our duties to our parents,
co-borns, wife, children and other relations. Parents need to be taken care of
in their old-age. Wife and children cannot be abandoned. I feel that it will be
extremely selfish on our part just to seek solace and self-realisation without
caring and tending to our family responsibilities?
Can
you please help me with the dilemma?
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