The Practice of Truth
By
Swami Chidananda
Glorious Immortal Atman! Beloved and blessed children of Light, engaged in spiritual sadhana, upon the path that leads beyond sorrow to liberation, to fearlessness and freedom, which is your eternal state! Yogis, moving upwards upon the path of spiritual evolution along the various Yoga paths according to your own taste and temperament, according to your previous samskaras or past impressions! Devotees of the Lord assembled together here!
The Upanishads have referred to that great Reality as the one true essence or principle in relation to which all other things are false appearances only, temporary appearances in time and space with no stable eternal existence. The Upanishads call the Reality sat, and everything other than the Reality they call asat. The Reality, the Cosmic Spirit is called jyotishamapi tad-jyotih, the Light of lights, satyasya satyam, the Truth of truths. Therefore, Truth is the ultimate goal to be attained.
Truth is a divine principle, that is not only the ultimate Reality, but also the path that leads to the ultimate Reality. It is the great sadhana that leads to the realisation of Truth. It is also the great penance that makes this sadhana fruitful, that supports this sadhana, infills this sadhana with a strength which is not of this earth, which is divine.
The penance of truth creates spiritual force within one’s heart. The great Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, referred to this inner spiritual force as atma-bala and declared unhesitatingly that it was the source of all his strength and the secret of his success in whatever he undertook. The penance of truth gave him the spiritual power to overcome all that was inauspicious and unspiritual within himself. He had attained self-conquest, and above all he had attained conquest over falsehood in any form. So much so that he was bold enough to declare his viewpoint in the words: “Not only is it true that God is truth, but I declare that truth is God.” To adhere to truth, verily would be to attain God.
Truth is therefore the penance. Truth is therefore the sadhana. Truth is therefore the path which allows the sadhana to be progressive. Truth is therefore the inner power that galvanizes this sadhana and makes it dynamic, and Truth is therefore the ultimate goal to be reached. The worshipper of truth never fails to attain blessedness, ultimate Truth. Even though in the worship of truth, in the practice of truth, you may have to face various tests and difficulties, nevertheless, enshrine truth within yourself.
Actually Truth is already enshrined within yourself as your own true Self, as your own real nature, as your own essential being. In truth you are not of this earth. In truth you are not a physical, biological being. In truth you are not merely a bundle of thoughts, emotions and sentiments, of memories, imaginations and fancies, of desires, cravings and schemes, of likes and dislikes. All these do not constitute your truth. Distinct from this physical, biological self, distinct from this bundle of thoughts and emotions, distinct from this psychological set-up of questioning, doubting, reasoning, logic and intellectualising, you are a ray of that great Reality. You are a part of that eternal Truth which never fades, which never changes, which ever shines, shines, shines.
Therefore, to be aware of this truth about yourself and to live in this awareness is to adhere to truth, to worship truth. To express the divinity that you are, in your thoughts, in your actions, in your words, in all the manifested modes of the living of your life, that is the fulfilling of truth. “To thine own Self be true.”
To be true to your real Self and to live to manifest that truth so that your life becomes an expression of the divinity which you are, that is the practice of truth in its ultimate spiritual sense, in its ultimate spiritual form. It is this practice of truth that beloved Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj prescribed for the modern age. “You are divine, be divine; feel divinely, speak divinely, live divinely, make your life divine.” It is this practice of truth, in all its phases, that was the great shining path that he proclaimed to the modern world. This is the key to blessedness. This is the way to supreme illumination and liberation. Ponder this truth and you will be blessed.
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By
Swami Chidananda
Glorious Immortal Atman! Beloved and blessed children of Light, engaged in spiritual sadhana, upon the path that leads beyond sorrow to liberation, to fearlessness and freedom, which is your eternal state! Yogis, moving upwards upon the path of spiritual evolution along the various Yoga paths according to your own taste and temperament, according to your previous samskaras or past impressions! Devotees of the Lord assembled together here!
The Upanishads have referred to that great Reality as the one true essence or principle in relation to which all other things are false appearances only, temporary appearances in time and space with no stable eternal existence. The Upanishads call the Reality sat, and everything other than the Reality they call asat. The Reality, the Cosmic Spirit is called jyotishamapi tad-jyotih, the Light of lights, satyasya satyam, the Truth of truths. Therefore, Truth is the ultimate goal to be attained.
Truth is a divine principle, that is not only the ultimate Reality, but also the path that leads to the ultimate Reality. It is the great sadhana that leads to the realisation of Truth. It is also the great penance that makes this sadhana fruitful, that supports this sadhana, infills this sadhana with a strength which is not of this earth, which is divine.
The penance of truth creates spiritual force within one’s heart. The great Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, referred to this inner spiritual force as atma-bala and declared unhesitatingly that it was the source of all his strength and the secret of his success in whatever he undertook. The penance of truth gave him the spiritual power to overcome all that was inauspicious and unspiritual within himself. He had attained self-conquest, and above all he had attained conquest over falsehood in any form. So much so that he was bold enough to declare his viewpoint in the words: “Not only is it true that God is truth, but I declare that truth is God.” To adhere to truth, verily would be to attain God.
Truth is therefore the penance. Truth is therefore the sadhana. Truth is therefore the path which allows the sadhana to be progressive. Truth is therefore the inner power that galvanizes this sadhana and makes it dynamic, and Truth is therefore the ultimate goal to be reached. The worshipper of truth never fails to attain blessedness, ultimate Truth. Even though in the worship of truth, in the practice of truth, you may have to face various tests and difficulties, nevertheless, enshrine truth within yourself.
Actually Truth is already enshrined within yourself as your own true Self, as your own real nature, as your own essential being. In truth you are not of this earth. In truth you are not a physical, biological being. In truth you are not merely a bundle of thoughts, emotions and sentiments, of memories, imaginations and fancies, of desires, cravings and schemes, of likes and dislikes. All these do not constitute your truth. Distinct from this physical, biological self, distinct from this bundle of thoughts and emotions, distinct from this psychological set-up of questioning, doubting, reasoning, logic and intellectualising, you are a ray of that great Reality. You are a part of that eternal Truth which never fades, which never changes, which ever shines, shines, shines.
Therefore, to be aware of this truth about yourself and to live in this awareness is to adhere to truth, to worship truth. To express the divinity that you are, in your thoughts, in your actions, in your words, in all the manifested modes of the living of your life, that is the fulfilling of truth. “To thine own Self be true.”
To be true to your real Self and to live to manifest that truth so that your life becomes an expression of the divinity which you are, that is the practice of truth in its ultimate spiritual sense, in its ultimate spiritual form. It is this practice of truth that beloved Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj prescribed for the modern age. “You are divine, be divine; feel divinely, speak divinely, live divinely, make your life divine.” It is this practice of truth, in all its phases, that was the great shining path that he proclaimed to the modern world. This is the key to blessedness. This is the way to supreme illumination and liberation. Ponder this truth and you will be blessed.
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