In the river of life GURU is the only RUDDER

In the Vedas life is explained  as a river.  The stream of life has been flowing like the river water flowing through the gorges and hills.  O friend, cross it over.  Whatever burden of life is carried, leave it this side.  Whatever burden is being carried to achieve the aim, cast it here. Whatever is helpful in achieving the aim is a blessing.  Hold on to the blessings.  Everyone knows that the river which is passing through the hills, no doubt, carries little water but makes a lot of noise.  It runs fast. It is very difficult to set foot in the fast-flowing water because it dislodges the feet.  There is always the danger of slipping and flowing with the water.
 
All this points to one thing that in the river of the world very few people were able to hold their feet in the fast running water and many of them had flown along with the water.  In the river there are lot of stones and these stones are covered with moss due to which there are greater possibilities of slipping and being washed away.  The water that comes in the hilly rivers come from the melting of snow.  As the day progresses more and more of snow gets melted which increases the flow and level of water.  The wise people always try to cross these rivers in the early hours of the day because the water level then is low.  It is always helpful to cross the hilly rivers in the morning hours.  That is why the pilgrims should cross such hilly rivers between three or four and 6 O'clock in the morning.

The saints and sages have always said that if the worldly rivers have to be crossed then it should be done in the early hours.  The early hours are the hours filled with good qualities.  The early hours are the early segments of life.  To cross the worldly river the early hours are very beneficial.  During that time your feet will get firmly established.  There will be less chances of slipping.  The mind shall get stabilized and the pilgrimage shall be comfortable.  Each and every word of the Vedas is carefully chosen because that is the voice of God.  The assessor who can dive deeper shall bring up pearls of higher value.  If anyone cannot assess the value then he will not get pearls. But even if you cross the river with low level of water there will still be danger of slipping because of the moss on the stones.  Some of the stones are round, flat, sharp and some are like rocks.


In the river of life there are lying these five types of stones which you call them lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego.  These stones are lying in the river of life. If the river has to be crossed safely be cautious that your feet should not fall on these stones.  Go across passing them by.  Remember that these are not large as they are seen.  In fact they are small.  They are submerged in the water and only a portion of them is seen.  Your feet can fall on them by accident.

Who in the world wishes to be angry but the anger comes up automatically.  Who would like anyone to be called greedy but the greed somehow appears.  When there is greed then relationship is not recognized.  These are not seen at all.  There is no distinction between large and small, the love between the brothers comes to an end, the intelligence gets blocked and madness descends upon the person. The man loses sense when in anger. A sort of fit of madness grows within.  The result of such an anger is that the man does not remember what has been said and where. Any angry man does not know what has been said by him but the listener knows what has been said about him.  He gets hurt most by knowing that whatever opinion has been formed about him has come out.  By knowing this he gets gravely hurt.  But the one who is in anger unknowingly continues to hurt.

The anger does not end here only with talking.  The anger has many a company.  It has a large family.  Slander and backbiting are its daughters.  All of them get united.  Obstinacy, a sister of anger also comes in.  The anger does not come alone.  It comes in full force with its full family.  It has an elder brother also, pride.  All of them get united.  The whole personality of the man undergoes a change.  It has daughters and daughters-in-law as well.  The son is malice and the daughter-in-law is jealousy.  They also stand by.  On the forehead is sitting anger, in the eyes comes the jealousy, and on the nose comes sitting malice in the garb of hatred.  The man makes faces by looking at people.  The moment there is any malice against anyone, and when the anger appears all other conditions appear automatically because the family line of anger is long and wide.  When they come and pusses you, you do not even know them.  All of them encircle you together.


They sit on your face and also on your chest.  When they do come, the tongue becomes surely aware of them.  It begins to falter.  The nose becomes aware of them because the nostrils begin to expand. When the man is in anger his nostrils begin to expand, the tongue begins to falter, and the teeth begin to grind. The eyebrows also become tense because here on them sits the lady of the household.  The daughter-in-law jealousy is sitting there.  The slander and backbiting are the daughters-in-law.  So the anger has not come alone.  It has come in full face with all its family members.

People are always keen to listen to the criticism of anyone against whom there is some jealousy and slander.  People use a lot of their energy in casting slander and backbiting in hard words against those whom they hate.  Anger creates gulfs between brothers who had loved each other.  With anger they get apart and with that difference a wide gulf appears between them and when there is gulf then the jealousy, malice and conflict grow by themselves.

Now it comes to a situation when the brothers feel happy by listening to the slander of his brother and the man feels happy to abuse people and feels satisfied if anything wrong comes to the brother. He feels delighted by looking at the spilling of blood of others because the mind is full of malice.  That is why at the time of meditation pray like this with folded hands: 'O God, let there never be malice and enmity in my mind.  O God, please keep me away from the thorns of malice.'

Please remember this that there is only one obstruction in meditation and sleep and that is enmity.  Anyone who becomes aware of his enemy he will not be able to sleep.  He will keep on rolling in the bed.  If the hostility is stuck in the mind then during meditation only the face of the enemy will be seen.  One remembers either his loved ones or the enemies.

When sitting at the feet of God always say this: 'O God, there is no one more lovely for me in this world than You. You are the most loved one.   There is none else in this world than You.  You are most dear to me, O God.  Please bless me with Your grace and love.'