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“In the Talmud,” he said, “a book on Jewish law written by Rabbis thousands of years ago, it is taught that it is better to pray to God for the strength to overcome temptations, difficulties, and doubts in order to do His will, rather than to pray for Him to do our will.”
I searched my heart. At the beginning of my journey, I had hoped to break out of my shell, push past my inhibitions, and experience the joys the world promises, thinking that that would bring me closer to God. But I now felt the distractions of the trip dragging me away from my cherished goal. My heart yearned for a spiritual experience.
Hope in the divine can empower a human being to overcome unimaginable obstacles.
what a beautiful statement
If we judge others for their faults, we fall into a trap. It will be better to put your faith in those of good character and cultivate your own yoga practice.”
“We were fine originally and lost that fine-ness. That’s when we became defined.”
Mother Ganges is teaching me that patience and steadfastness are required to follow my calling.
If we understand the underlying cause of what we think of as bad in someone, instead of being hateful, we will be compassionate. For is not every soul inherently good? A saintly person will hate the disease but love the diseased.
When, I wondered, will the day come when I will cry like that baby for my beloved Lord?
so beautiful
We are all like fish that have separated from the sea of divine consciousness. For a person to be happy outside his or her natural relation with God is like a fish trying to enjoy life outside of the water, on the dry sand. Holy people go to great extremes to help even one person to return to his or her natural spiritual consciousness, to the sea of true joy. But the net of maya, or illusion, snatches away the minds of the masses, diverting us from our true self-interest.
“A dog will recognize his master in whatever way he dresses. The master may dress in robes, suit and tie, or stand naked, but the dog will always recognize his master. If we cannot recognize God, our beloved master, when he comes in a different dress from another religion, then we are less than that dog.”
The Bhagavad Gita teaches that renunciation is not for a lazy man who does no work, but for one who works in a spirit of devotion.
We are vulnerable to defeat when our minds succumb to fear. The foreigner was unfamiliar with monkeys, but the Nepalese tot had lived around monkeys all of his life. So we fear what we don’t know. Through knowledge of our spiritual nature and sincere faith in God, we can overcome all fear. Please, Lord, bless me with such courage as I find my way to You.
On one hand, I found holy people working jobs and raising families, and on the other, I found this eccentric hermit of the forest. But what they all had in common was their humility, a deep focus on spiritual practices, and an unquenchable thirst to serve.
When I witnessed this outpouring of love for Babaji, I understood the saying that it is only when one has no desire for adoration that one is truly qualified to receive it.
“What is the best way to chant?” I asked. His eyes glazed with emotion and, closing them, he sang a Sanskrit verse and explained, “Lord Chaitanya taught that one should strive to be more humble than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, and to offer all respect to others while expecting none for one’s self. In this way, one can chant the Lord’s names constantly.”
“You see this grass? It is happy to serve everyone, even by remaining in the most humble position under our feet. Whenever it’s stepped on, it comes right back up, to serve. We can learn from this humility.”
The religion of these people is not reserved for Sundays or holidays but is intrinsic to every aspect of their daily lives. It is utterly spontaneous.
Real humility, I was finding, did not mean I ought to be cowardly and shrink from challenges, but propelled me to strive with all my resources to overcome challenges with integrity, respect, love, and gratitude, to be as much as possible an instrument of the divine.
Becoming humble is not the act of killing the ego but of liberating the real ego, which is eternally vibrant with love for God and others.
“The Lord’s impersonal, all-pervading energy is called Brahman. And Bhagavan is the personal form of God, who is the energetic source and never under the influence of illusion.
Bhakti Yoga is the art of transforming material energy into spiritual energy through a spirit of devotion.”
