THE PEAK OF PERFECTION

The Peak of Perfection 

You can climb the peak of perfection through resolute will, intense dispassion, renunciation and rigorous meditation. Sublime divine thought is very powerful, it is a dynamic transmuting force. Diligently seek the path of truth; tread it carefully and vigilantly, for you may slip and fall. Love is harmlessness, kindness, compassion. Nothing can tempt you if you are regular in meditation. He who is pure at heart has already found divinity. Renunciation of egoism is the direct way to the eternal.

Knowledge of the imperishable bestows perfect freedom and independence. Where egoism is, immortality is not; where immortality is, egoism is not. Concentration will give you great power. Collect the scattered rays of the mind. Lust and greed make you a spiritual bankrupt. Purity and meditation bestow on you inexhaustible divine wealth.

A yogi becomes the master-builder of the temple of truth. Pass through the gate of wisdom - you will reach the illimitable domain of eternal bliss. He who is endowed with discrimination and power and concentration climbs rapidly to the peak of illumination. Your real guru (preceptor) is your own heart - he is the indweller, the inner ruler.

Longing for final liberation is the hunger for the spiritual food of knowledge of the eternal. Mind is the mirror through which the eternal appears as the universe of names and forms. Be in the world - not of the world. This is the highest yoga. This is the eternal wisdom. The wise man is ever eager to learn, he never poses as a teacher.

This visible world is the mirror of the invisible Brahman. You are a slave of circumstances because you do not meditate regularly. You will easily get illumination in solitude. Solitude has its own charms - prepare yourself for life in seclusion. Control and preserve energy through silence, brahmacharya (celibacy) and pranayama (yoga breathing), - you will have wonderful meditation. Love that man who dislikes you - you will grow strong. Money wasted can be restored, but time wasted is lost forever. Find out your centre - that centre is perfect harmony, eternal bliss, your own immortal soul

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SINNER TODAY , SAINT TOMORROW

               Sinner Today, Saint Tomorrow 

Critical times test the faith of the devotee. He who has faith in the Lord must pass through the fire of suffering. Suffering is not misfortune; it helps one to grow. Suffering and pain open the door to wisdom. "Not to be hurt by others", is more difficult than, "not to hurt others". Blessed are those that suffer, because suffering helps them to evolve quickly - suffering is the substance of spiritual life.

The individual soul is a business man - his karmas (actions) are his commerce - good and bad fruits of his good and bad actions are his profit and loss. The world is his business house. Think well and judge what is right before you act. Involuntary, unintentional or unconscious actions do not constitute karma, because volition is the most important factor in determining karma, and here it is absent. Sin is only a mistake, misdirected energy. Mistakes are lessons in wisdom. The essence of evil and sin is belief in things that perish.

The essence of religion is truth and the essence of law is virtue. Two birds, inseparable friends, cling to the same tree. One of them eats sweet and bitter fruits and the other watches without eating. The tree is the body. One bird is the individual soul who enjoys the fruits of his actions - pleasure and pain. The other bird is the Lord who remains as a witness without eating.

Respect of the soul is praiseworthy. Respect of the body is despicable. A scientist conquers external nature but a yogi conquers the mind and internal nature. The sinner of today is the saint of tomorrow. Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.

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Your goal is God. Your centre is God. Your ideal is God. Turn back to God and realise everlasting bliss. Resting on him you will be saved. As the lamp cannot burn without oil, so too, you cannot live without God. God is within you all the time, inspiring you, lifting you up. Withdraw. Aspire. Meditate. Realise.

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THE SPIRITUAL PATH

The Spiritual Path 

Youth is the best time, the most fitting time in a man's life, to devote himself to spiritual aspiration and sadhana (spiritual practice). The spiritual life is practical from beginning to end. The love for the ideal should be single-minded and whole-hearted.

The spiritual path is an unknown path which is as straight and narrow as a razor. On it there is no other light than that of faith and divine grace to guide the aspirant. There is no other sustenance than devotion.

The track ahead cannot be seen. The going is uncertain. And many pitfalls await the unwary. The traveller, the aspirant, must travel in the dark. He must march courageously forward. He will reach great illumination at the journey's end.

The spiritual path demands complete mastery over the flesh. Proceed gradually. Intensify the aspiration you have. Have a keen thirst for the realisation of the supreme. Keep alive thy aspiration, undiminished and bright. Be thou firm in thy faith.

Empty thy heart of all earthly things. The spiritual life is a life of child-like simplicity. What is needed in spiritual life is a sincere aspiration for the life of the spirit. It needs an earnest dedication to it. And it needs a whole-souled devotion and application to the realisation of the ideal. Your heart must be solely and entirely centred on God. It must be centred on God alone - deeply, passionately and steadily.

Be sincere to thy very core. This is the most essential thing. Spiritual life is based on the complete conquest of the lower nature. Upon this pedestal of perfect self-mastery and right conduct, the edifice of godliness and divine life may be built. May thy spiritual life and example inspire one and all.

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Man wants a fuller life. He lives for a fuller life. That is life in eternal Brahman. Life is an endless series of awakenings. Understand life and the laws that govern it. Then you will lead a life of harmony and peace. Life holds the key. Unlock the mystery of your own being and attain life eternal.

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BECOME DYNAMIC

                       Become Dynamic 

If a man feels even a little bit for his present deplorable condition; if he attempts even to show a slight improvement; if there is a little receptive attitude; then he can be corrected and he can make progress on the path of yoga. If he is obstinate and pigheaded, if he is absolutely self-willed, if he deliberately shuts his eyes or hardens his heart against the truth or divine light - then no one can help him.

The aspirant should give his full consent, he should consent with all his being (sarva bhava) for the change of his lower nature into divine nature. He must make total, unreserved, ungrudging self-surrender to the Lord or the guru. He must have the true spirit and he must have persistent endeavour. Then only the real change will come.

Yoga can be practised only by those who are very earnest about it and who are ready to annihilate their little ego and its demands. There are no half measures on the spiritual path. Rigid discipline of the senses, and the mind, rigorous tapas (penance) and constant meditation, are necessary for the attainment of God-realisation.

The hostile forces are ever ready to overwhelm you if you are not vigilant, if you give the least sanction, or the smallest opening for them. Yoga cannot be practised if you cling to your little self, your old habits, your old unregenerate and self-assertive lower nature.

You cannot lead a double life. Pure divine life, the life of yoga, cannot co-exist with a mundane life of passion and ignorance. Rise above the petty human level to the higher level of divine consciousness.

You cannot claim freedom for your petty mind and little ego if you want to become a yogi. The lower nature with its retinue of arrogance, ignorance, and turbulence, stands in the way of the descent of divine light.

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Know the truth, the Absolute. Then you are saved, you are liberated, you are enlightened, you are free. You can know Brahman only by becoming Brahman. To become Brahman is to identify yourself with the supreme soul which constitutes your divine nature. The river joins the ocean and becomes one with it. The drop mixes with the sea and becomes one with the sea.

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PRESENCE OF MIND

                      Presence of Mind 

Just reflect for a while when you have failed in an attempt. Try to be more careful in the next attempt. Try to remove those factors that led you to fail previously. Fortify yourself now. Be careful and vigilant. Be active and nimble as the squirrel. Be quick and at the same time be capable and efficient. Do not commit mistakes.

Call forth all your latent energies or dormant faculties. When the house is on fire - how alert you are. How skilfully and promptly you act at that particular moment. You do not know where the power and the energy are flowing from at that time. You are fully concentrated. You contrive by skilful methods, then and there, to save your property and the lives of those dwelling in the house. You do marvellous actions and then, when the difficulty is over you say that some mysterious 'power of God' has worked through you!

Always cut the Gordian knot at once. Do not waste time. When once you have resolved on a definite line of action, carry it out dexterously, with a cool and calculating deliberation and consideration. Procrastination is the thief of time. One who procrastinates can never succeed in life, or in any of his undertakings.

The vast majority of persons, even so-called 'educated' people, have no definite aim in life. They drift here and there like a log of wood on a restless ocean. They do not know what to do. After finishing their B.A. or M.A. courses students do not know how to proceed. They do not have power of judgment to select any good vocation that is suitable to their temperament, that will bring them prosperity in life. They become lazy. They are not suitable for any kind of speculative business or any kind of activity demanding knack, pluck and skill.

In persons of this sort, those who waste their time and energy, they finish their life's career in gloom, despair and sorrow. The energy, the intellect are there but they have no ideal, no clear-cut programme of life. Their life is a failure.

Clearly understand the purpose of life. Then chalk out the line of work that is congenial to your aim. Live up to your ideal. You can realise the ideal right now, this very second. But if you walk with faltering steps it will take ten years. The ideal must be there and then you can develop your will.

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LIFE IS ARTIFICIAL

Life is Artificial 

Life has become very artificial. There is physical, mental and moral degeneration. You do not find robust, stalwart, healthy people. Longevity is unknown. Everywhere you see puny, stunted creatures with dilapidated frames and sickly appearance. They cannot even walk a short distance.

Children beget children. People die like moths. They have become weaklings, effeminate, impotent.

There is wholesale devastation by earthquake. Divorce courts are increasing. One nation is afraid of another nation. Each nation is suspecting the other nation of preparing for war. Life has become a matter of uncertainty. It has become a mass of confusion, chaos and bewilderment. It has become very stormy and boisterous. It is full of under-currents, cross-currents and mixed currents!

You can escape from these troubles and difficulties if you lead a life of dispassion, self-restraint, purity and selfless service; if you develop pure cosmic love; if you develop the habit of taking the right view, right thinking, right feeling, right acting, all with the right attitude - and if you practise devotion and meditation.

Dispassion must be of that type that is born of pure viveka (nitya-anitya vastu viveka - discrimination between the real and the unreal). This is a rare commodity, a rare virtue. Seek everlasting bliss and peace in the Atman or the soul within by purifying the mind and practising meditation. This is the only remedy to get rid of the pains of samsara (worldly existence).

Be quick in taking to spiritual pursuits. Hairs are becoming grey. Teeth are falling. The senses are getting cold. Practise meditation while you are young. After retirement from service you can do nothing.

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PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS

Practical Instructions 

Difficulties exist only that you may grow strong by overcoming them. So overcome all difficulties, one by one, patiently. If you fail ten times, do not despair. If you fail a hundred times, do not be disheartened. If you fail a thousand times, rise up and march on boldly. Failures are indeed stepping-stones to success.

Watch your speech. Watch every word. Speak no word that is impure or vulgar, or that can affect the feelings of others. Never allow an unclean thought to enter your mind. If it does enter your mind, drive it out at once. Purify your mind so that an impure thought may not be able to gain entrance. Strengthen your resolve. Patiently persist in your sadhana (spiritual practice).

Intensify your dispassion and yearning for liberation. Destroy your personal element. Forgive those who harm you. Give love for hatred. Overcome evil by good. Resist the promptings of the lower nature.

Make your body your obedient servant, your slave. Do not give up your sadhana simply because you do not make any progress. Struggle as long as you can each time. Each time you will be nearer to success.

Give, give, give. Giving is the very nature of love. Giving expands and purifies the heart. Ask for no return. Ask for no gratitude. Where there is no free giving, there is no room for God. Giving itself is the secret of abundance. Interest and attention will strengthen your will. Cultivate attention to a considerable degree. Constantly repeat some inspiring verses from the Gita or the Upanishads.

Constantly repeat some mantras such as: Om Satchidananda or Om Namo Narayanaya. This will be your divine background of thought: This will be a shield, to counteract the objectionable impure thoughts.

Follow these instructions carefully. You are sure to attain Self-realisation here and now.

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If you realise the one in all and the all in one, you are an illumined sage. Be serene in the oneness of things. All duality will disappear by itself. One alone is the living reality. All is illusory. All is maya's jugglery. One appears as the all. Reject, negate the all. Realise the one and be free.

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