Janardhanan (Johnny) Alse

I have been and am still a seeker because Ramakrishna Paramahansa said, “Everyone is born, and everyone leads a life of eating, making merry, enjoying, and then dying.” Just one percent of the population gets a yearning to know the Creator who gives all these enjoyments of life. They want to know that Creator. And of that, it is less than one percent who consistently stick to wanting to see the Divine. And therefore, Ramakrishna Paramahansa says, “It’s not an easy path.”

However, when the calling comes, those who are the less than one percent stick with it and stay steadfast at the expense of everything else. They the Nitya Siddhis who are constantly thinking about the Divine. And that’s faith. My greatest wish is to be one with the Divine and all other things. 

As the saints have said, “All other things are transient. Don’t hold on to them.” It’s like a child having a brand new toy that fascinates them for a few minutes, and after that it becomes useless. So is this life. Don’t cling on. But cling on until you recognize your purpose, and then give up.

See, when I talk about faith, it’s tears of joy. It’s a reminder to me for today to stick with that path. Next year is my last year of teaching; I’m resigning after that. Enough. And all along I’ve been constantly praying. So now work and worship will become worship only. And that’s my retirement. 

If, in that worship, I act to help others and share whatever little I know through my experience, and it is what Lord wants me to do, so be it. I’m looking forward to that chapter of life. 

I’ve got an original Ph.D., but I say, “That’s fake.” My real Ph.D. is yet to be gotten in the presence of the Divine. Once that is accomplished, it will be a fulfillment of my life’s purpose.  It will be a culmination of why I was born and raised.