To fly toward God, certain ethical principles are necessary. What are these principles?
Service
Love and service are the two wings that help you fly. Love is a means of merging with another person. Service connects you with many. Through service, you acquire a thousand heads with which to think and a thousand hands with which to act. People will support your projects if you serve them. So the first principle is to serve all with love. It really helps you.
And how should we serve God? Ganesh wants a full tummy and a dance. Krishna says a fruit, a flower and some water are all he desires. Water and ashes are enough for Shiva. And as a loving mother, Devi only wants you to be happy. Just a loving thought is enough for her.
Do you really think God needs elaborate rituals?
Just remember that God comes to you in the form of living beings. Therefore, if you seek to serve God, serving living beings is enough. Spend most of your devotional efforts or charitable monies on serving the life around you.
Indebtedness
Nobody likes ungrateful people. So remember to serve or give a worthy gift to all those who help you. This ensures their continued support. Express your gratitude to any and all who have contributed to the quality of life around you—and especially to your mother, father, guru, spouse and friends.
Manifestation
Clearly imagine the future you want for yourself. More importantly, feel that you are already enjoying its results. Pull the future into the present—that is the secret of manifestation.
So if it’s a house you want, sketch or imagine it. Feel its spaces as if you are already living there. If you want to be a millionaire, draw some zeros after the 1 on a currency note, and keep looking at it—feel and act as if you already had that million. If it’s good health you desire, try to forget you were ever sick. Play as if nothing’s wrong with you. And if it’s peace you seek, resolve to find that peace wherever you are—make the effort to go to an ashram or out into nature, and feel the peace there.
Focusing on the solution is what solves the problem. Thinking that a problem can’t be solved only increases its difficulty. This is a very common mistake that we all make sometimes without realizing it. Train yourself not to worry about your problems. Worry only drains your energy. You don’t have to specify an exact sequence for the solution, because there may be many ways you haven’t imagined in which a solution can manifest.
Seek help from those you have served. Clearly imagine your goal and live it now.
Honesty
Honesty makes you feel good, and we should all generally do what makes us feel good—so long as we do no harm to ourselves, to others or to the environment. Honesty will make your life purposeful, productive and passionate. You will be able to leave a legacy of value only if you practice honesty.
Anger Control
Anger not only upsets the mood, it increases tension and drains energy. And is that useful to you? No. So why hold onto it? The world will not always be what you want it to be. So let go of your desire to “repair” it—let go permanently. Leave that job to God. You’ll feel much more relaxed and happy.
Anger comes from the ego being hurt. It comes from a sense of helplessness or desires denied. If someone accuses you of something that you didn’t do, it can make you angry. But, in fact, there’s no reason to be angry, because you really didn’t do it. If the accuser’s idea is mistaken, it is he or she who should be upset—why should you be? Getting angry is like saying, “He threw a stone at me, but it missed. How unfortunate! Let me pick it up and hit myself with it, since he intended it to hit me!”
Why should you hit yourself with anger?
Sometimes you may feel helpless, and this too can make you angry or depressed. In such moments, remember that God exists in the form of all the life around you. If you have served any of these life forms, they will come to your aid now. You are always connected to the power of God, and to the life of your environment. You never really lack power—it’s only because you have forgotten your connection to God that you think you are small and helpless.
Hunger and desire support the body and the continuity of life. They both seek variety, which is natural. Their fulfillment gives us pleasure; their denial gives us anger. But this anger can then turn into fear, hatred and cruelty.
Also, don’t associate fun with sin. God loves fun. Don’t suppress desire, but try to convert lust into love through playfulness and pure joy. Remember to feel and believe that God is within you—and also that she or he is having fun through you. That is the idea of bhakti. It is powerful enough to remove the trauma of sin, guilt and even child abuse.
In conclusion, I advise you to be a SIMHA—in many Indian tongues, a lion:
S – Service
I – Indebtedness
M – Manifestation
H – Honesty
A – Anger control
Live by these principles, and you will fly toward God.
Source: "Gifts from the Goddess" by Michael Bowden
