If the world was not there, we could not survive upon the surface of the globe for even a moment. When I say the world, it includes everything: the sun, moon, stars, the plant and animal kingdoms, the earth itself, and the rivers and oceans. The entire world is necessary for us to exist. This is why in the scriptural narration of creation all religions declare that the world was created first and then man was introduced, and not the other way around. Christianity relates the story of how Adam was formed in the Garden of Eden. In ancient Hinduism also the world was created first and the last masterpiece of creation was man. The Lord was so happy in making His masterpiece that He sent him to the world with certain instructions. "You do not need to approach the Lord to improve the world-condition, but you are the master of the entire universe."

These are not just stories; it is true. The world is necessary for our existence. To that extent we are all slaves to the world. If the sun, moon, and stars were not there; if the gravitational or phenomenal forces, the air in the atmosphere, or water were not there we could not exist. All of nature is necessary for us to sur- vive and enjoy life.

Everything that exists, this entire world is given to us as a gift from the creator, the Lord. Are the sun, moon, stars, and the oxygen not free? If these are not there, of what use is our technology? Not only the outer world, but the equipment to contact that world –our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, mind and intellect – are also gifts. Yet in our vanity we think that we are achieving certain things, but we could not achieve anything if it were not for all these gifts. Therefore, our achievements are also ultimately only gifts. When we start thinking deeply about these ideas, the logic of it becomes self-evident.

When a gift is received, the recipient is a slave and the giver is the master. We, the entire humanity, are slaves, recipients, in the sense that the Lord is the giver/the Master. An employee who receives a monthly salary from1her employer is a recipient, and in spite of what the labor law says, is a slave to her employer.

The True Meaning of Spirituality

The great thinkers of the past, the rishis, were allergic to the idea of slavishness. They did not want to be slaves to anyone, not even to God. Their entire system revolted against the idea that they would only be recipients, beggars at His door at every moment. So, these great revolutionaries started thinking, is it possible that even though He is the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient Lord of the entire universe, I can still become the Master? And their great discovery to humanity was that we can conquer Him, and He can be our implicit slave. The method of achieving this is the meaning of spirituality.

Whatever we have been given is His gift to us. How can we give Him anything when nothing is mine? The great rishis pondered over this question and found a strategy by which, the Lord can be walking behind us, wagging His tail as an implicit slave. How is this possible? It is true that whatever we have is His gift to us, but what we do with what we have, is our gift to Him. When we start giving Him the gift, He becomes the recipient. When He becomes the recipient, He is a slave and we are the Master.

Let me give an example. Suppose there is a servant who has been faithfully working for your family for the last twenty years. Today he will be the head of the family, although he is still paid by you and working in the kitchen, yet everybody surrenders to him implicitly. How did this happen? It is because of the way he worked for you with all loyalty and honesty, taking even better care of your health than you would yourself, that you now do whatever he says. Once this is understood , we should learn to apply all our faculties – physical, mental, and intellectual – in His service. All the scriptures advise us to have the attitude, "Thy will be done, not mine, not mine. I am only an instrument, Oh Lord, make use of me."

In Advaita philosophy, this omnipotent, omnipresent Brahman is the cause for the universe. Cause is never away from the effect. All the effects are nothing but the cause in different forms. All waves are nothing but the ocean in different forms. The entire universe around us has come from Him, the cause. That cause is unachieved, ever pursued, pervading in all beings. Therefore, if all my faculties are made use of or employed for the benefit of others and not for my own selfish desires, am I not offering Him the very faculties that He has given to me?

No doubt, I am a limited creature, and cannot be omnipresent, but He is present everywhere – in every plant, animal, and human being. I can serve Him anywhere as every name and form is nothing but His moving temple, a touch of life. This vitality that vibrates through every living being is the Self, the Lord.

Thus, when I start serving everybody, without consideration of caste, creed, color, belief or behavior, whether he is a cruel monster or a divine individual, I am serving nobody but the Lord. So, when we surrender our stupid egos, our vulgar selfish­ ness, and start using all our faculties for the service of others, we know that He is the one who receives through all these names and forms.

Try this method for six months and then just look back. You will find the Lord standing there, ready to do whatever you want Him to do. He has to, because He has become the recipient. He is an employee, and I am now the employer. I am giving to Him and He has to accept. He has no choice. We cannot deny His gift because it is thrust upon us. Similarly, when we fling our works upon Him, the poor Lord will have to be our slave. The Lord is always a slave to his devotees. When I use the word ‘devotee’ do not think of one, who goes on pilgrimages every year and gives money and gold to the temple. That is not devotion. Devotion means devotion to the Lord at every moment. This kind of devotion is now sadly lost in the world .