भूलिहुँ दुर्भावना कहुँ, हो न सपनेहुँ प्यारे |

लखहुँ जनि परदोष कबहुँ, दोष निज लखु प्यारे |

जगत ते मन को हटा कर , लगा हरि में प्यारे |

Each line of this kirtan series gives us a very important message that all devotees need to implement in their lives. We should never harbor any ill-feelings for others even by mistake. It is very beneficial to have positive thoughts for others, while it is harmful to have harbor negative thoughts about others. Our thinking shapes our personality. For example, if we think negative about others by saying, “He is a bad person”, it does not harm the other person. Instead, it harms us..

We are advised to have a feeling of ‘Godliness’ towards others. This attitude is considered to be of the highest order. This means, we should see God in all entities. We should think that God resides in every being. If you cannot bring yourself to see God in someone, then you should at least think positive about that person, and in no case harbor negative thoughts. The normal human tendency is that we develop a feeling of ‘negativity’ towards a person who has wronged us. We keep thinking about how to get back at him. We derive happiness from this. This is known as Tamasik Sukh.

Our attitude is, “He used foul language against me, so I slapped him. He will never forget the lesson.” Irrespective of whether the other person remembers the incident or not, you are recalling it in your mind. This negative thinking spoils your mind. We may think that our negative thoughts harm the other person, but the fact is that we end up harming ourselves by making our mind dirty. This is the reason that Maharajji tells us not to have any ill-feelings towards others. Further, he says that we should never find faults in others. Our saints teach us not to see the negative aspect in others, instead we need to focus on their positive qualities.

You might have heard about an incident in the life of Saint Eknath. He was a saint from Maharashtra. He made a great impact on the culture of Maharashtra, which exists even today. “Naath Bhagvad”, a manuscript by him, is very famous. Once he was returning after a bath in the holy Narmada River. A pathan came and stood in front of him. He filled his mouth with water and spat on him. Eknath did not get angry on him or say anything. He kept quiet and then said – “Jai ho Rukmani Vithal”. He then had a bath in Narmada again. When he came out, the pathan spat on him again. This sequence continued many times. The moment he came out after taking a bath, the pathan would spit on him. This continued from the morning till the evening. People gathered on both the sides of the bank to see who would emerge victorious. At last the pathan gave up. He asked the saint, “Maharaj, what are you made of? Wood or stone? I spat on you so many times, but you did not even ask me as to why I spat on you?” The saint said, “Why should I get angry with you? You are doing good to me. It is because of you that I could take bath in this holy Narmada River.” This is how saints think. If someone thinks bad or does bad things to them, they don’t get disturbed.

There was a Mahatma, great man who was always opposed by a person. People used to say that the person was condemnable, but the Mahatma never said anything to him. One day, the man died and Mahatma came to know about this. He started crying when he heard this news. People said, “He was a bad person and always disturbed you, and derived happiness from that. Now that he is no more, it is good for you, he won’t be able to disturb you anymore.” The Mahatma replied, “It was due to him that I could increase my tolerance. He helped me increase my humility and reduce my ego. He used to do good for me. Now that he is no more, I am tensed as to how I will be able to progress spiritually?”

This illustrates that great people do not get affected by opposition; instead they feel happy about it. It is a very unique quality not to find faults in others. In fact, each one of us has faults in us since we are under the influence of maya. When we see faults in others, our ego prevents us from realizing our own shortcomings. This is very natural. We are not able take any initiative in correcting ourselves and our own faults keep increasing. Hence, Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says that if you want to see faults, see them in yourself. Once we implement this philosophy in practice, we will find a lot of peace. Secondly, stop judging others and everything will move on smoothly.

There was a man who had two sons. He taught them to get up early at 4 am and practice sadhana. Both of them tried to get up early, but only the elder one could make it. He took bath and then sat for meditation. The younger son slept on till 7 am. The elder son complained to his father about the carelessness of his younger brother. His father said, “If you wanted to wake up at 4.00 am to find faults in your brother, it would have been better if you had slept on like him.”

Similarly, if we are to go to a satsang to find faults in others, it is better to stay at home than to participate in satsang. The more impure the mind is, the more faults it find in others. The day our mind becomes pure, we will stop finding faults in others. According to the scriptures, there are only three people who have the right to see faults or judge other people. The first is a doctor. It is his duty to find physical faults. Next is a lawyer. He is paid to find faults and the third is a teacher, because he imparts education. No person other than these three has the right to find faults.

Shree Kripaluji Maharaj further gives us the solution of one of the most important questions. Everybody complains that we cannot concentrate our mind on God. Please give us some magical formula with which we can concentrate.

Once a person asked Maharajji that he is not able to concentrate his mind on God. Maharajji said, “Which fool told you that you will be able to concentrate on God? It is a great achievement if you can concentrate in God. You are still doing sadhana. By sadhana we are trying to concentrate our mind in God, and you think you would be able to do it automatically!” We have to try and make an effort to concentrate on God. Maharajji says that we must detach our mind from the materialistic things and turn our mind towards God. But do not expect that your mind will continuously concentrate on God. It will naturally lean towards the materialistic world. You may wonder why this happens.

Maharajji replies that, “Our mind is mayic in nature, and the world around us is also mayic. Hence, it is not surprising if the mind is attracted to the material world. It takes effort to concentrate our mind on God. It is difficult to throw a ball upwards, but it takes absolutely no effort to throw it down. Just release the ball from your hand and it will fall down. In sadhana, we have to concentrate and make a firm decision using our intellect that, “My goal is God. I am related to Him and with the help of my intellect I will detach my mind from this materialistic world.” If your mind gets diverted towards the material world, bring it back towards God. Every time the mind deviates from the path, we have to bring it back towards God. We need to sustain this effort continuously.