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April 9 - April 14, 2017
If material poverty is to be avoided, spiritual poverty is to be abhorred! It is spiritual poverty, not material lack, that lies at the core of all human suffering.
So, remember, do not over-indulge in eating, sleeping, working, social activity, or in any activity, no matter how pleasurable it is, for an over-indulgence will yield nothing but unhappiness.
Let your soul manifest bliss night and day.
If you want to be sad, no one in the world can make you happy. But if you make up your mind to be happy, no one and nothing on earth can take that happiness from you.
"Happiness is the greatest divine birthright-the buried treasure of my soul. I have found that I am secretly rich beyond the dream of kings."
The real food for the happiness tree can be supplied only through meditation and actual contact with God in daily life.
The worst pests that attack our plant of happiness are lack of the desire to progress, self-satisfaction, and skepticism.
In order to be happy, one needs good health, an efficient mind, a prosperous life, the right work and, above all, an all-accomplishing wisdom. A man cannot be happy just by holding the inner calm while completely ignoring the struggle for existence and the effort for success.
Do not ignore the material causes that stand in the way of your happiness. Strive to remove them, and go through all the activities of life with this calm, happy attitude of mind.
Sorrow and false happiness, like Siamese twins, dwell and travel together. They are the children of
desire and are never far apart; if you invite false happiness, sorrow is sure to follow.
If you want to know what your friends think about you, behave perfectly and keep constantly improving yourself by being unselfish, wise, calm, meditative, fearless, sweet, sincere, courteous, methodical, true to your word, and unafraid to be firm, and your friends will be so
overwhelmed by your goodness that they will think, and talk loudly, about what you are.
The more you improve yourself, the more you will elevate others around you and the happier you will become. The happier you become, the happier will be the people around you.
In studying, you must master one subject or more, but you should also know something of every other subject, including botany, logic, astronomy, music, languages, and politics. The study of physiology is important. Read a good scientific magazine every month.
Good books are your perpetual silent friends. When you are worried or grieved, take a book and bury yourself in it. Listen to the comforting and inspiring words of the great minds of the ages.
If you read spiritual books, choose those that contain Self-realization. Such books as the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita should not be read as you would read a novel. Read a passage, think about its meaning, and meditate on its truth. Then try to live the truth in life.
