Living With the Himalayan Masters

by Swami Rama

A person’s strength needs to be tested often so that he learns to be self-reliant. Teachers, by testing their students, teach self-discipline and promote self-reliance. In order to gauge a student’s progress, testing is important. Testing also helps students to evaluate their own progress, and to uncover errors of which they may not have been consciously aware.

“During that which is night to others, the enlightened one keeps awake.” Then he explained: “The finest hours are the hours of night, but very few know how to utilize their worth and silence. Three categories of people remain awake at night: the yogi, the bhogi [sensualist], and the rogi [sick person]. The yogi enjoys bliss in meditation, the bhogi enjoys sensual pleasures, and the rogi keeps awake because of his pain and misery. All three remain awake, but benefited is he who is in meditation. The bhogi experiences momentary joy—and with a desire to expand that moment, repeats the same experience. Alas, it can never be expanded this way. In meditation real joy expands into everlasting peace.

Don’t condemn yourself. No matter how bad or how small you think you have been, you have a chance to transform your whole personality. A true seeker can always realize the reality and attain freedom from all bondage and miseries. In just one second you can enlighten yourself.

“Learn to walk all alone” was a lesson for me.

Costly dresses have no power to hide our ugliness—stylish clothes do not have the power to make us beautiful. Instead of focusing on externals we should learn to cultivate and express our inner beauty. This inner beauty will shine for all to see.

Latent lust is very dangerous because it manifests more in meditation than in active life. The desire for worldly gains creates barriers in fulfilling the desire for enlightenment.