' Dear God '...

Dear God,

This is my record of eternal gratitude to You.

You gave me birth in a most respected Hindu family,
but not high enough in social status to make me proud.

You gave me a physical form well-admired for its perfection,
but it was small enough to keep me humble.

You gave me education high enough to be most useful in life,
but not high enough to make me proud.

You gave me success in sports high enough to be satisfied,
but not proud.

You gave me a career in which You took me high enough to be
admired, but not high enough to make me arrogant.

You gave me a wife and family for which I have always been
eternally grateful, but You did not spare me some grief to remind
me not to forget what life is all about, and to be always grateful
for what I do have.

You did not forget to place an adequate number of temptations in
my way so that I may not be too critical of others who have to face
their own temptations.

I am now 84, and perhaps the only wish that remains is that the
long life You have given me will not carry a burden at the end.
But in that case, I know You will also give me the necessary
courage to go with it.

You gave me a lot to show me how little is needed to be content
and how much could be given away.

And, undoubtedly, the most important of all - as if the bounty
You have showered on me were not enough - You crowned Your
achievement by using this psychosomatic apparatus to convey to
the world the most important message of Advaita. Truly I am
blessed. Or, indeed, my Beloved, have You not blessed Yourself?!

Finally, it occurs to me, if You were to design for Yourself a life in
phenomenality, could it have been much different from this one?

And, for this thought, no tears are enough to wash Your
Noumenal feet.


- Ramesh Balsekar