What is the meaning of self-dependence? A man has two selves. The one that generates lust, greed, anger and attachment is the ego, which evokes desires. But man has another self which is great, pure and vast, which helps realise the Divinity Spirit within us.
Awakening the spiritual power within you is the true meaning of self-reliance. No one can present spiritual strength to you. If you want to be successful in life, you must awaken the power within. We should cultivate a loving relationship with God. This will kindle the hidden shakti within us. You yourself have to grow in spiritual strength in order to attain liberation.
Let me tell you about a darvesh (a holy man). He was a poor man who worked hard during the day to earn his living and studied late into the night. It was his desire to be well educated. He would burn the midnight oil, both literally and metaphorically, for he used to read by the light of an oil lamp. One night, when he sat down to read, he realised that he had run out of oil. He could not get it from anywhere at that late hour. Disappointed, he went to sleep, regretting that the night had been wasted.
That night he had a dream. In the dream God appeared before him and said to him, “Do not be dejected, my child, do not be sad. Just open your mouth, I will pour the wisdom of the world into it. You will be the wisest among men.” Do you know what the darvesh replied? In the dream he found himself saying, “I do not want you to gift me knowledge. All I want is a little oil for my lamp so that I can study. I do not want knowledge without effort. I want to learn and study and gain knowledge through my own effort.”
What a splendid example for us to emulate! Truly has it been said that there can be no true gain without pain, and what we achieve through our own effort can never be snatched away from us. Therefore, let us grow in spiritual strength and be blessed.
Dada J P Vaswani was a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader.
