Four Things To Make Worthwhile Through Connecting With The Supreme Lord

“If having not seen Sita I shall leave from this place and go to the city ruled by the king of Vanaras, of what avail will my achievements prove to be? My crossing over the ocean, entering Lanka and seeing the Rakshasas will have all been useless.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 13.20-21)

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यदि सीतामदृष्ट्वाऽहं वानरेन्द्रपुरीमितः
गमिष्यामि ततः को मे पुरुषार्थो भविष्यति
ममेदं लङ्घनं व्यर्थं सागरस्य भविष्यति
प्रवेशश्चैव लङ्कायाः राक्षसानां च दर्शनम्

yadi sītāmadṛṣṭvā’haṃ vānarendrapurīmitaḥ
gamiṣyāmi tataḥ ko me puruṣārtho bhaviṣyati
mamedaṃ laṅghanaṃ vyarthaṃ sāgarasya bhaviṣyati
praveśaścaiva laṅkāyāḥ rākṣasānāṃ ca darśanam

1. Our birth

We must have taken birth for a reason. We are here. We are alive right now. Not everyone stays for the same amount of time. The length of the progress bar is not uniform. After living for but a few days, someone might reach the end. Another person hangs on for up to one hundred years.

2. Our education

In the standard system, we have to learn for so long. Twelve years of sitting in a classroom, working on assignments, building upon knowledge already learned. Even then, there might be further to go. Admission to an expensive university. Post-graduate education. Thereafter, repeated training while within the workforce, to keep up to date with skills matching the rapidly changing landscape.

3. Our struggles

There is difficulty from beginning to end. We suffer through so much. The heat of summer. The cold of winter. The interference from rivals in the field of play. The envy of our fellow man. The consequences to poor decisions. Caught in between rival political parties and their dreaded policies forced on the public. There is barely a chance for peace, to sit quietly and to not worry about anything.

4. Our accomplishments

Despite the struggles, we might have something to our name. We accomplish this thing and that. We are known for a particular skill. We have documented evidence to support our proficiency. We can both talk about the skill and exhibit it, when asked to do so. If prominent enough, people might pay good money to invite us to speak to their group or association.

…

From the trials and triumphs of Shri Hanuman, as documented in the Ramayana history, we see that the wise person considers how to link everything with service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Hanuman’s case, there was extraordinary progress. He singlehandedly leaped over an ocean. He reached a foreign territory that was already hostile to any foreigners, especially those presenting the Vanara visual.

Hanuman would have sufficient material to fill a lengthy memoir. His autobiographical tale would surely be a bestseller. After all, who else could ever dream of accomplishing the same? Who would be brave enough to risk such a venture? Who would want to face man-eating ogres known as Rakshasas, all for the purpose of finding a missing princess?

This was indeed the issue at hand. Sita Devi still was not found. Hanuman had not seen her. He deliberated that it would not be worthwhile to return home. He would be considered a failure, despite the many triumphs. Everyone back home, the Vanaras and Shri Rama, were anticipating news of Sita’s whereabouts. They were counting on Hanuman to succeed.

While I am nowhere close in ability, strength, courage, or perseverance, I can at least contemplate similar questions as it pertains to my experience in life. Just what have I been doing? What is the meaning to it all? How can I leave this world knowing that I have not yet had a connection with God?

This must mean that I still have a purpose. There was a reason for my birth. Everything that I have done thus far can be purified. It can be part of a grand tapestry narrating my success in transforming from illusion to enlightenment. That success can purify even past experiences, in however many births I have previously suffered.

बिगरी जनम अनेक की सुधरै अबहीं आजु
होहि राम को नाम जपु तुलसी तजि कुसमाजु

bigarī janama aneka kī sudharai abahīṃ āju
hohi rāma ko nāma japu tulasī taji kusamāju

“The many past births you spoiled can be rectified right now, today, if you start chanting Shri Rama’s holy name and renounce bad association, says Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 22)

In Closing:

A futile endeavor to mount,
With too many to count.

This life not the only one,
But the past over and done.

The opportunity presented clear,
Not to be stopped by doubt and fear.

From Hanuman’s example to take,
How worthwhile this birth to make.