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DO WE NEED CHALLENGES?
An old matured, seasoned farmer, one day, was very angry with God though he was a great devotee. He said to God in his morning prayer, "I have to tell it as it is — enough is enough! You don't understand even the ABC of agriculture! When the rains are needed, there are no rains; when the rains are not needed, You go on pouring them. What nonsense is this? If you don't understand agriculture, You can ask me — I have devoted my whole life to it. Give me one chance; the coming season, let me decide and see, what happens."
It is an ancient story. In those days people had such trust that they could talk directly to God, and their trust was such that the answer was bound to happen. God said, "Okay, this season you decide!" So the farmer decided, and he was very happy because whenever he wanted sun there was sun, whenever he wanted rain there was rain, whenever he wanted clouds there were clouds. |
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And he avoided all dangers, all the dangers that could be destructive for his crops; he simply rejected them — no strong winds, no possibility of any destruction to his crops. And his wheat started growing higher than anybody had ever seen; it was going above a man's height. And he was very happy.
He thought, "Now I will show Him!" And then the crop was cut and he was very puzzled. There was no wheat at all — just empty husks. What happened? Such big plants — plants big enough to have given wheat four times bigger than ordinary wheat — but there was no wheat at all. And suddenly he heard laughter from the clouds.
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God laughed and He said, "Now what do you say?" The farmer said, "I am puzzled, because there was no possibility of destruction and all that was helpful was provided. And the plants were growing so well, and the crop was so green and so beautiful! What happened to my wheat?" God said, "Because there was no danger — you avoided all danger — it was impossible for the wheat to grow. It needs challenges."
We all flee from pain and seek pleasure forgetting there are times in everyone's life when something constructive is born out of adversity. When things seem so bad it prompts us to escape the burden and realize our strength, either through creating healthy changes in our outer world or transforming ourselves inside and realizing our hidden potential.
Bhagavan Baba has explained the mystery of suffering to us in the following words: |
“When suffering comes, why do you estrange yourselves from the Lord? He gives you suffering for your own good, for the advancement of your devotion. If suffering is granted, you seek peace, you search for knowledge of the mystery, you go to wise men to listen to aspects of the truth. Without suffering, sweetness cannot arise.”
- Adapted from East and West – Feb 2007
Illustrations: Sai Aditya, SSSU.
- Heart2Heart Team
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