Is there anyone who is not under stress and tension for one reason or other? Not to my knowledge. The glory of surrender gives us hope to face life calmly in spite of the stress and tension we face. The problem which causes tension may get solved at times with self effort. When self effort fails, surrender to an entity who is capable of coming to our aid in getting the problem solved is the right means to derive help from the entity. For instance, Swami Vivekananda had been facing many problems, while he was on his mission of spreading spirituality among people. On many occasions the problems he faced were such that he could not solve them by his own effort and he had to seek the help of God and his Guru. And the help always came in a mysterious manner. The following is an example:
Swamiji was on his way to the World Trace Centre in Chicago two days before the parliament of Religions was scheduled to commence on 11th Sept. 1893. When he arrived in Chicago, he had with him a piece of paper giving the details of the route to the World Trace Centre. When he arrived at a locality mostly occupied by Germans, he came to know that he had lost the paper containing the details of the route to the World Trace Centre. The whole day he tried to seek the help of the people around, but most of them being Germans, did not know English. As the night set in he did not find any place where he could spend the night. He found a big empty box in the railway yard. He spent the night in it. On the following morning, finding no way to solve his problem, he sat on the side of the road, taking refuge in the Lord and his Guru, Sri Sri Ramakrishna. Soon, a lady appeared in front of him and learning from him that he was a delegate to the Parliament of Religions, she kindly offered him all help. She first took him to her house where he got ready and then took him to the World Trace Centre. The lady was Mrs. George W. Hale of Chicago. Later the whole family became his ardent devotees. Readers may be familiar with the many letters he wrote to Ms. Mary Hale. We too can get help from the Lord and Sadguru provided we seek it with humility and surrender. Often one's ego does not become submissive. I have often seen people carried away by their wealth and position. The former makes them think that their problem can be solved with money and the latter gives them arrogance which blocks the help coming from the Lord and Sadguru. Also, humility comes to a person only after getting innumerable knocks. Shocks and disappointments knock one out and make one humble. One need not wait till one is fully knocked out. One can be wise enough to seek help from the Lord and Sadguru always, with surrender, devotion and humility.
With so many uncertainty factors coming in our way while going through life, the only sure and dependable course available to us to ward off difficulties is Sharanaagati - the constant dependence on the Lord and Sadguru. The attitude of Sharanaagati gives one solace and strength to face life's problems.
The Rushis remind us about the value of human life and its purpose. The sole purpose of the human life is to help one to attain freedom from misery. One should go all out to achieve this in this very life as implied in Bruhadaaranyaka Upanishad, 4.4.14. The Rushis state thus: "Here, in this very life, we have succeeded through the right means to realize the Aatman and thereby put an end to our suffering in life after life. Otherwise we would have wasted the human life, a priceless gift from the Almighty, and continued in suffering." Should we not be wise enough to understand the value of human life, given to us as a previous gift by the Lord for realizing the Aatman (Sat-Chit-Aananda)? The article, "Healing Processes and their Limitations" (Page 19) should also serve as an additional impetus in this respect. This article, when viewed with an open mind, will convince the reader that misery is one's lot in life irrespective of the wealth and knowledge one possesses or position one holds. An open minded attitude helps one to imbibe greater and greater knowledge and benefit thereby. This dictum is further elucidated by the article, "Living in the Shell" (Page 22).