Mahatma Gautum Baiji told this story at satsang on Sunday:
Many years ago, a devotee and his wife went traveling by boat. They had just gotten married a few months ago and this was their first trip together.
It was a nice journey until suddenly, a storm struck. The boat rocked violently, and there were screams from the other passengers and the sounds of people crying.
There was only one calm passenger: the devotee. He was sitting very peacefully amidst all the chaos.
His wife was one of the frantic passengers, and she looked at her husband with surprise.
"How can you just sit there like that? Aren't you scared?"
He said, "No."
"But in a few moments we could all die. You're not worried about that?!"
"No."
"But why? What is the secret, please tell me!"
He slowly got up and pulled out a sharp knife.
"Are you scared of this?" he asked, as he put it near her neck.
"Of course not!" she said.
"Why?"
"Because I know you! Yes, the knife is very sharp and dangerous, but the person holding it loves me so much! You can never harm me - that's why I'm not scared. "
He put the knife away and said, "Exactly. And I know the storm is very dangerous, but I'm not looking at the storm, I'm looking behind it at the person who is there: God.
I have the kind of trust in Him that you have in me. You know the knife is dangerous, but you have faith in me, and that's the kind of faith I have in God."
So many problems and calamities come into our lives, and what do we do? We start running here and there. God is within us, but we try to get relief through outward means.
We run to the temple or church and we give an offering. "If you help me this time and solve my problem, next time I will donate even more money." The bigger the problem, maybe we will donate more money as if that will help.
That is not unconditional love. "If you do this, I will do that" is conditional love.
For the unconditional love we need to get self-realization. To get that, we need to practice meditation."
-Mahatma Gautum Baiji
