Why do we actually refrain from reaching God?

[akshara]

Though attaining the Ultimate remains the bliss of all, why then attaining that bliss alone remains the toughest of all, or why is that man surrenders to worldly delights so easily and yet fails to even realize the presence of God?

Thanks to all the amazing inputs, grace and responsible lessons on God, being conveyed in the forum. I am a firm believer of the Hindu tradition and I perceive each one of you my companions in seeking God. I study your messages; nevertheless I am confounded as to the perfect philosophy to attain self-realization. As a beginner, I request you to please put across your honest responses on the above subject that remains to me incomprehensible.

[clito]

namaste,i think the reason for that, is the fear of the unknown ,some of us ,we are not sure ,because of trouble maya and world of senses.we are part animals ,part divine ,we are so much involved on wordly affairs,in adition the daily life is slavery ,we have to work hard to survive, there is not much time to think about spirituality and hardly ever we have witnessed other kind of life.down in the city there are a lot of bad forces walking arround, in the mountains and nature is very different ,there you can feel spirituality much more accesible to your mind, there arent poluted atmospheres, noises ,emotional propaganda etc.human mind is attached to many things, social life parents ,food etc.society systematically eats our brain ,just put on the tv or read a newspaper and you can feel involved in that ****.thats why only the strongs, the wise or the favoured horosope people cross the jungle of nonsense daily living and find the sense of living ,that means surrender to god.

[saidevo]

Namaste Akshara.

Perhaps the reason is our mind, which we easily (mis)take to be our Self?

[Spiritualseeker]

Namaste,

Also not believing that its possible.

[Eastern Mind]

akshara: Welcome to HDF! An excellent question! Reminds me of: If we are destined to be merging with God, then why all the fuss. Why not get it over with?

This is my take. Others may disagree.

Anava, karma, and maya, hold the individual soul back. To overcome anava, we need knowledge, and I'm not speaking of the intellect. We need mystical insight, knowledge of the inner workings, the interconnectedness of all things. To overcome karma, we need to act within dharma, until the balance is so far in our favour, we have no more 'negative' karma to hold us back. To overcome maya, we need to be able to see, and feel, and really get the true and only reality, Parasivam, within ourselves.

Why? I believe it is all within the nature of God himself. God's breathing in and out. We are at the stage of immaturity, and have the senses to keep us out, continually bombardment. That is why it is so fifficult to go within.

Aum namasivaya

[devotee]

Though attaining the Ultimate remains the bliss of all, why then attaining that bliss alone remains the toughest of all, or why is that man surrenders to worldly delights so easily and yet fails to even realize the presence of God?

Namaste Akhshara,

Saidevo ji has already the best one-line answer : It is due the mind. This is the nature of mind which is the reason behind our forgetfulness of our True Nature, the relative perception of this world as different from our own SELF, the hunger, restlessness, morbid clinging to phenomena we know as "life" & all related activities due to that hunger and restlessness.

Here, we must be cautious. The mind is different from brain. So, even if the brain dies the mind doesn't. So, you can't escape its tentacles by switching off brain by intoxicationon or even by death. The mind survives even death. This is your "ego self" which has only apparent existence till we recognise that there is no individual self. The mind gets strength through our thought process ... behind all thoughts the first mother thought is of an "individual self" having a separate identity.

This mind is very powerful. This creates the trap-net of Sattva, Rajasa & Tamasa gunas. Discrimination, grace of God & right action are the ways which take us beyond the clutches of this Maya/ Samsara.

Why is it like so ? No one really knows. It is simply the nature of SELF in Waking & Dreaming States. May be God knows ... or perhaps He also doesn't !

OM

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam

These are self explanatory words of Lord Krishna in the Bhagvat Gita
I hope it helps

The Blessed Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.(15.01)

The branches (of this world tree of Maya) spread below and above (or all over the cosmos). The tree is nourished by the Gunas; sense pleasures are its sprouts; and its roots (of ego and desires) stretch below in the human world causing Karmic bondage. (15.02)

Neither its (real) form nor its beginning, neither its end nor its existence is perceptible here on the earth. Having cut these firm roots of the Ashvattha tree by the mighty ax of (Jnana and) Vairaagya or detachment; (15.03)

So doing, one must seek that place from which, having once gone, one never returns, and there surrender to that Supreme Person from whom everything has began and in whom everything is abiding since time immemorial.(15.04)

nirmana-moha jita-sanga-dosa
adhyatma-nitya vinivrtta-kamah
dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-samjnair
gacchanty amudhah padam avyayam tat
　
Those who are free from pride and delusion, who have conquered the evil of attachment, who are constantly dwelling in the Supreme Self with all Kaama completely stilled, who are free from the dualities known as pleasure and pain; such undeluded persons reach the eternal goal. (15.05)
　
　
　
　

Jai Shree Krishna

[akshara]

Thanks to Clito, Sai devo, Spiritual Seeker, Eastern Mind, Devotee, Ganesh Prasad! All your inputs were valuable.

But listen, I�m only a beginner. I have read and listened to similar messages � on fear for the Lord, the working of our senses, the mind, intellect, the three gunas, and about who really reach the eternal goal. Maybe, enormous messages still can be collected from books or similar forums, which, but, will remain incomprehensible to me. At a confounded stage as stated in my original post, what I need is a reply to �Where do I stand?�, �What are my defects in the course of this eternal journey?� Why do I easily fall prey to the worldly pleasures?� Failure after failure each day, still I�m entangled in these pleasures. I have been acquainted with all sorts of pleasures- wealth, career, fame�But was I satisfied? I was discontented always. So, I need a unique, practical, understandable, workable philosophy to stabilize myself on the Ultimate.

[Eastern Mind]

akshara: Another good question.

Lets say its like building a house. Do you just build a house like writing a single letter on a piece of paper? No. it comes in steps. A brick at a time, as the saying goes.

Advice from my gurus would go something like this:

Start with something simple, like 5 minutes a day of trying to sit still. Try to be regular. Then after 6 months or a year, make it 10. It is all a slow progression. In Hinduism, there is no big hurry. We are all at different stages. Each individual has to determine what it is they can handle. Don't worry about the rest of the time. That's just living life.

or: Make sure you do something ! It can be some karma yoga, some chanting, some restraint. Not all of us are cut out to be meditators. Not all of us are cut out to be parents. Just do what you can do, and do that well.

In the meantime, also try your best to avoid adharmic activities.

Aum namasivaya

[clito]

[quote=akshara;31121]Thanks to Clito, Sai devo, Spiritual Seeker, Eastern Mind, Devotee, Ganesh Prasad! All your inputs were valuable.
boy, what you feel ,your daubts and failures, happens in a mayor o minor level to everyone, even a paramahansa have to face his ego.in the spiritual path ,one thing that sometimes is forgotten, is the body purification ,which is intrinsically united to the mind and the wealth of the soul.when you fast for 7 days, doing satkarmas like basti kunjal and neti kriyas ,pranayam and daily reading of stotras.at the end of the fast you have a blissfull experience and from that you have a glimpse of what spirituality trully means, spirituality is far from reciting stotras to get some shakti and then use it for mundane wordly affairs.spirituallity means to feel god inside you.there are millions of seekers that everyday recite mantra sadhana and stotras and perform pujas but very few that trully have god inside them.when you reach this experience then the way to maintain the connection with god is right dieta, right thoughts ,right yoga sadhana right actions .these kind of life you can only have it in an asharam or isolated in nature,unless you want to be like many spiritual citizens and have a normal life with an spiritual touch.the spiritual path is the most difficult of all.and you have to be a real hero and renounce to all what you have for thee.