THE SPIRITUAL PATH- FEW IMPORTANT HINTS
BEGIN EARLY
ONE has to begin as early as possible with one's spiritual life. Unless we have sown the seed of spirituality in our soul early in life, there is no possibility of creating the spiritual mood in later life. Those who are not spiritually minded while they live in the world, can never be spiritually minded when they retire from the world. They will find that the old impure impressions have become so deep that there is no possibility of effacing them. That they have become the slaves of their instincts and impulses, and that they can no longer act in the way they would like to, cannot take up a higher and purer life, neither mentally nor physically.
Swami’s call- “Past is beyond recovery, future you are not sure of, given moment is NOW, the present is Lord’s present/ Gift to you for reaching Him”
THE LORD'S GRACE
The Grace of the Divine comes to a person in the form of self-effort, in the form of the will to strive for something higher and more permanent than all these phenomena.
Some speak of destiny, others speak of self-effort, while again others hold, “Yes, it is true that everything depends on the will of the Lord, but the Lord desires that I should strive my utmost. Self-effort comes to me as a manifestation of my 'destiny'; it is the will of the Lord that creates in me the desire for striving”.
Dear Ones,
The biggest obstacle/ irony in spiritual sadhana is our repeated statement “Without God’s grace, I am not able to get deeper into spiritual journey, only He has to help me”
In all my talks on “KARMA”, when the subject of Purushartha or Self effort is taken up, I explain- Divine grace is our birth right exactly as Tilak roared- Freedom is my birth right. How? To the extent we make conscious Self efforts in spiritual journey, divine Grace must flow to us because God is just waiting for those who are sincere, to shower His grace.
Sun illumines all in equal intensity, it is up to us how much we take the intense light as it is and how much we allow the same to dilute and lose its intensity in us!!
CHANNELIZE THE MIND
Through constant practice, through unflagging practice, we may develop an attitude of mind that enables us to think and to feel that whatever we do is a service to the Lord, and that we have no right to the fruits of any of our actions. “O Lord, whatever works I do, I look upon it as a form of worship to Thee.” This service may be physical, intellectual or spiritual.
DEFINITE IDEA OF THE PATH AND THE GOAL
We should have the ideal fixed that neither worldly nor heavenly pleasures are our goal, that our ultimate goal is God /Self-realization—neither this world nor heaven, nor any other world. Heavenly enjoyment is no better than earthly enjoyment, and so long as there is hankering after heavenly enjoyment, we can never attain the goal. We must yearn for God more than for His creation either in heaven or in earth.
Before we actually begin our spiritual life in real earnest, we must decide if we are really fully prepared to pay the price. We must fix once for all our ideal, our conduct of life, and everything, and then stick to it in all circumstances. If we wish to transcend all the unrealities, there must always be a certain amount of dare devil in us, a certain amount of fearlessness and true heroism. Unless we are prepared to sacrifice all our worldly desires and our sense of, ‘I-ness’ we can never hope to realize the higher ideal.
“Give me the strength, give me the devotion, give me the freedom/ liberation (Mujhe Shakti do mere Sai Shiva, mujhe bhakti do mere Sai shiva, Mujhe mukhti do mere Sai shiva)
DISCRIMINATION
You must never associate too freely with people and must always use discrimination.
If another person attracts you, just direct the mind into some higher channels, create in yourself some dispassion for the person in question, so that that person loses all charm for you. Later on this dispassion is to be effaced so that you can look at that person with the same indifference with which you would look at a stranger you have never known.
In spiritual life, although to a great extent you cut off your personal relations with others, you come to have a wider love and sympathy for them through the medium of the Divine. When one finds something higher, the lower ideal automatically loses its attraction, and is put aside.
MEDITATION ON FORM
Few people can begin their spiritual practice with the meditation on the Formless and Attribute less Aspect of the Divine. Even the conception of God without form but with attributes is beyond the grasp of the many. So long as it is impossible for us to form even an idea of the Divine in both his transcendent and immanent aspects, we should first of all try to think of the Divine Glory as manifest through the Holy Incarnations and Prophets of mankind.
The adoration of God(s) with form is the foundation in our spiritual journey. In the beginning, we need a definite form or set of forms, with super natural power on whom we can focus so that our hither to wandering mind finds a definite focal point to concentrate. Only this concentration on God with form helps us gradually to reduce our thoughts.
It is only later that we are able to transcend forms and discover the spirit of God within us.
SELF-SURRENDER
Only one who has really passed through strenuous self effort can give himself up and surrender himself wholly and unconditionally at the feet of the Divine. All forms of striving make the mind pure and fit for the Divine touch. And self-surrender can only be accomplished after having gone through one's spiritual practice with great perseverance and doggedness.
STUDY AND PRACTICE
Religion is something different from and something more than book-knowledge. Through mere scholarship, through mere intellectual study, you can never learn the Truth. When we think too much and too highly of intellectual life, we can never realize the essential truths of religion.
“Let one study as well as he can, master the subjects, but after having become a great scholar, let him renounce desires and try to live upon the strength which comes from knowledge.”
You must always train your intellect and have your fixed studies, think deeply on the problems, and form a habit of clear thinking and deep study, so that you would feel uncomfortable the day that you have not studied anything deeply pondering over it and over the truths it contains. This daily study is to be made an important item of your spiritual practice.
BUDDHA'S PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS
Once Buddha was asked, “Sir, is there a God?”. He replied, “Did I say there is a God?” “Then is there no God, sir?” asked the questioner. “Did I say there is no God?” came the reply, Buddha wanted to stop all empty and hair-splitting discussions and speculations, and make people do something. So he said, “When a house is on fire, do you first go and trace the origin of the fire, or do you try to extinguish it?”.
The essence is- we waste too much time in taking about God, in discussions, debates etc. Instead, it is more important to Feel God In the depth of silence.
(Extracts from Yatiswarananda’s talk on spiritual path)
Man learns through experience, and the
spiritual path is full of
different kinds of experiences.
He will encounter many difficulties and
obstacles, and they are the very
experiences he needs to encourage and to complete.
They are the very core of the
cleansing process. And when the cleansing is finally
complete, the evolved soul ceases to
react to anything.
All emotions are perfectly balanced.
He lives in a state of permanent
happiness,
regardless of prevailing circumstances.
-Sai Baba
Taking the clue from Swami’s quote in “different kinds of experiences” in the spiritual path, we will now deal with the different paths in the spiritual journey which gives us different experiences though the ultimate aim/ goal is again what Swami says above –“ Living in a permanent state of happiness”.
Love
