Lucknow: God is present within every living being and guides human beings from within, said Swami Muktinathananda, President of Ramakrishna Math, Lucknow, during his weekly Sunday discourse on the Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita.
Explaining the universality of God, Swami Muktinathananda referred to a well-known story narrated by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa about an elephant and its mahout. He said the story conveys an important message: although God is present in every creature, this does not mean that people should abandon reason, intelligence and practical wisdom.
According to the story, a guru told his disciple that everything in the world was Narayana, or a manifestation of God. One day, a mad elephant appeared on the road while its mahout warned people to move away. The disciple thought that since the elephant was also Narayana, there was no need for him to move. The elephant picked him up and threw him aside, injuring him.
When the disciple complained to his guru, the guru explained that if the elephant was Narayana, the mahout was Narayana too. Since the mahout-Narayana had warned him to move away, the disciple should have listened to that warning.
Swami Muktinathananda said the story illustrates the importance of combining spiritual awareness with practical discrimination. God is present in every being, but recognising the divine does not mean ignoring the laws of nature or circumstances of the world. Human beings have been given intelligence and discernment by God, and using them to make the right decisions is itself an expression of divine guidance.
Referring to Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, Verse 61, he said:
“The Supreme Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, and by His divine power guides them.”
He explained that the verse conveys that God is not confined to a temple or the heavens but is present in every being at every moment. God is present in the elephant, the mahout, the guru and the disciple alike, constantly guiding people from within. However, people often make the mistake of recognising the divine in one form while failing to recognise it in another.
Swami Muktinathananda further explained that, according to Sri Ramakrishna, God should not be sought merely outside oneself. He resides within the pure mind and pure intellect. When the mind becomes free from excessive desires and ego, it becomes a seat of the Divine.
He said the elephant represents divine power, while the mahout represents divine wisdom and discrimination. The warning of the mahout to move away was, in a deeper sense, also the voice of the Divine guiding the disciple. A person who recognises only power but ignores the voice of wisdom may suffer the consequences.
“Spirituality does not mean closing one’s eyes to the world,” Swami Muktinathananda said, explaining that true spirituality means opening one’s eyes and recognising the Divine in all forms while exercising proper judgment.
Drawing another analogy, he said God is the pilot and human beings are passengers. Referring to Sri Ramakrishna’s teaching that a person is an instrument while God is the one operating it, he compared the human body to an aircraft and God to the experienced pilot seated in its cockpit.
Just as passengers can remain assured when an experienced pilot is in control of an aircraft, human beings can develop inner peace by trusting divine guidance. He said suffering and anxiety often arise when people attempt to assume complete control over their lives instead of surrendering to the Divine while continuing to perform their responsibilities wisely.
Concluding his discourse, Swami Muktinathananda said that if people develop the faith that God is the ultimate doer and that human beings are instruments in His hands, anxiety, fear and stress can gradually diminish. Using one’s intelligence and discrimination is also a way of following the guidance of the Divine pilot.
He described this combination of faith, surrender, intelligence and practical wisdom as the essence of spiritual living and a key to a peaceful and fulfilling life.
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