大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Brahmacharini Shripriya Chaitanya

Enough hope to keep you happy

Good morning.

This morning I share a blessing given by Swami Chinmayananda. He says " I wish you enough happiness to keep you sweet, enough trials to keep you strong. Enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to keep you happy".

For many, prayer is a one-way street of communication. We express to God what we want, how much of it we want, when we want and how we want it. When we get what we want we may remember to offer a prayer of gratitude; more often than not we are simply happy to receive what comes to us and continue on our way.
There is a beautiful prayer expressed by Kunti, the mother of the student in the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna. Kunti meets Shri Krishna after the devastating Mahabharata war and says to him, 鈥渕ay we always be afflicted with problems in life so that we can remember you鈥�.

She speaks a universal truth: for many, prayer is a way of reaching out to God in moments of distress. For her, however, what鈥檚 crucial is not to be free from sorrow, but to remember God. Therefore, if our suffering is the easiest way for us to remember God then she asks to suffer as much as necessary to achieve that remembrance.
We鈥檙e reminded that through our trials we grow strong and through our sorrow we develop empathy. If we develop the ability to remember God whose love and compassion is infinite, then we have found the key to happiness in life.

And so, I repeat this prayer: I pray that we have enough happiness to keep us sweet, enough trials to keep us strong. Enough sorrow to keep us human, enough hope to keep us happy.

Hari Om.