Question: How can we permanently conquer expectation and demand?

There are two types of expectation. One is the human type: I do something for you, and expect you in return to do something for me. My action and my expectation are reciprocal forces. Then there is another kind of expectation, the spontaneous expectation of a child. A child does not do anything for his parents, but still he expects things from them. If a child is hungry, he just cries. If I am hungry, I will get something to eat from the kitchen. But the small child cannot do this, so he just cries, and wherever he may be, his mother comes to him with food. In that kind of expectation, we feel that there is someone who will come to fulfil our needs.

In the spiritual life, we see that expectation is of the second type. I feel that there is someone with infinite Love, Compassion and Concern who will do everything for me, even if I do nothing for Him. But again, this expectation has to be wise. True, He will give me everything, even beyond my imagination, but in His own Way, at His own choice Hour. I am a child of the Supreme Emperor. Just because I am spiritual, I have to surrender to His Will and wait for Him to give me what He wants to give me in His own Way.

When we have this kind of awareness, we conquer expectation. When we expect on the physical plane, we act like a beggar. A beggar knocks at the door and feels that just because he has knocked at the door his role is over. Then he expects alms or food from the inhabitants of the house. But when we expect on the spiritual plane, we do not act like a beggar; we just claim the Supreme as our very own.

Our human capacity is very limited in comparison to the capacity of the Supreme. When we think of the soul and when we think of the body, we see that there is a yawning gulf between them. The vital has more capacity than the body, but its capacity is limited. The mind has more capacity than the vital, but the mind is limited also. The heart has more capacity than the mind, but in comparison to the soul it is also very limited. When we look at the capacity of the soul, it is enormous, and when we look at the capacity of the body, it is very limited. But if we feel that there is somebody called the Supreme, the highest transcendental Absolute, we know that naturally His capacity will be greater than our soul's capacity, because our soul's capacity also has limitations, while His capacity is unlimited. If we expect something, immediately we have to know that it is the physical, the vital, the mind, the heart, or the soul that is expecting it. Since all the parts of our being are limited, if their expectations are fulfilled, the results will naturally be limited.

We are crying and crying for happiness in the form of expectation. However, no matter what we seek, the results will be limited. But we have to know that there is somebody with infinite capacity who is eager and anxious to share with us His capacity. There is somebody who is constantly crying to share His capacity with us, so let us be wise; let us give Him the chance. Let us allow His expectation to be fulfilled in us. Let His expectation grow in and through us. Let our human expectation be conquered by the divine expectation of the Supreme, the Eternal Pilot. Let us surrender our human expectation to the Supreme's expectation. When we surrender to the unlimited Light, we become really unlimited. If we take this attitude, we act like divine children, children of Light, children of Wisdom. At that time, our expectation is conquered by His expectation, which is unlimited. This way only, through surrender, can we conquer our human expectation.