ॐ नमः शिवाय!
Instead of rewriting everything which already had been written and said many many times by many great saints, here is a discourse from Shri Swami Sivananda ji on the real sadhu (Saint) Ego and God.
"If you find mercy and humility in a person, then alone can you know that he is a Sadhu.
His heart will melt at the suffering of others.
Man has a sin-hardened heart.
When it begins to melt.
A Sadhu need not deliver lectures on the Panchadasi.
He need not necessarily be able to deliver eloquent discourses on the Gita (Discourse by Shri Krishna given to Arjun in the battle ground of Krukshetra-Sacred scripture of Hindus or Sanatana Dharma).
He may not be able to comment for three hours on a single verse of the Brahma Sutra, but a sweet aroma will always be emanating from him. This will attract you to him. It will give you peace and inner bliss when you approach him. All your worry and anxiety will disappear as you approach him. His very look will elevate you. His words will inspire you and engrave themselves on the tablet of your heart. Your nature will be transformed by his very look. You will turn a new page in your life. Such will be his power! Such is the glory of true mercy and humility!"
People have a hard heart, a heart harder than granite, harder than diamond, on account of wrong actions done life after life. This heart should melt. Only then can they have Self-realization. Note well that there is no short-cut to Self-realization. A man without mercy, love and humility cannot realize the Self. You must understand this clearly. You must engrave these words in your heart. You must write them in bold letters on placards and place them in your rooms and offices. The Shri cannot manifest Himself in a sin-hardened heart. It must melt like butter before He can reveal Himself."This melting is done by Kirtan and untiring selfless service rendered with the feeling that all are forms of Shri Narayana. Then you will develop a feeling of oneness with all. Listening to the scriptures and contemplation will be of no avail if there is no purification of the heart.
Vedantic Sadhana at this immature stage will only fatten your egoism and harden it. The bonds of worldliness will grow tighter and the veil of ignorance become thicker."Without purifying the heart no progress in Sadhana is possible. Therefore, practise Japa, sing Kirtan, do untiring selfless service. Be generous. Give, give, give. Kill vanity. Worldly people have their own vanity, but much harder is the egoism of a Sadhu. He thinks that he is superior to a householder because he knows the Gita by heart and he can deliver thrilling lectures for weeks on end on each verse of the Upanishads. This spiritual pride is extremely difficult to eradicate."Maya assumes many different forms.
The ego assumes various shapes. Just as water takes on the form of the vessel into which it is poured, so also the ego adjusts itself to all circumstances and persists in its work.
"You renounce the world so that you can get rid of the vanity of wealth and material desires. Now you acquire another vanity--the vanity of renunciation. In order to crush the ego you do scavenging, though you are highly educated. Now the ego assumes the subtle form of the vanity of service. You bow to all, you prostrate to all, in order to develop humility. This indefatigable ego comes up there also--you now have the most dangerous vanity of humility. You feel inwardly that you are humbler than others. This ego is your terrible enemy. It wages guerrilla warfare with you. Beware! Beware! Beware!".
If you are sincere you can eradicate this ego through Japa, Kirtan and selfless service. Sincere people are very rare in this world. You can count them on your finger-tips. Sincerity--it is a very rare virtue! It is a combination of several virtues--of truthfulness, straight-forwardness, simplicity, absence of vanity, courage, fearlessness, tenacity of purpose, love and humility. All these go to form sincerity. A sincere man is immediately respected and trusted by all. Only if you have this virtue will there be rapid spiritual progress. Only then will you realize the fullest benefits of the Japa, Kirtan and meditation that you practise daily.
"Introspect and find out how you are progressing in the cultivation of these divine virtues. You are not practising introspection regularly. You have not the strength of mind or the power of discrimination to introspect. You think that you are very much advanced, but when a test comes you fail miserably. It is because there has been no real progress, no real spiritual advancement. It is vanity that makes you think that you are very advanced."
Apply this acid test on yourself: does your heart melt at the suffering of others? Has charity and generosity become your very nature? Your money belongs to the Lord. You have no business to keep more than you need. How can you accumulate wealth when your God in the form of a poor man is starving? How can you take food four times a day when the beggar--Lord Narayana--is starving outside the door? These are the tests of spiritual progress.
"Do you run to a poor man walking along the street and offer him food? Do you rush to the aid of a sick or injured man lying on the roadside and ask, 'My Lord, in what way may I serve thee?' If you do so, then you are really advancing on the spiritual path. You will soon develop cosmic love, which is the threshold of liberation."
If you really want God, then all these things must be done. You should have mercy. You should feel that you are only a trustee of your money; you are like a gatekeeper. God has given you money. You should share it with others. Purchase blankets in winter and distribute them to the poor lying on the roadside. What a joy you feel! The man who has not shared what he has with others has a poor heart indeed, though he may be a millionaire. Even the man who has nothing to eat is the richest man in the world if he has a large heart, if he shares what he has with others.
"The real Sadhu is one who has nothing to call his own except a large, magnanimous heart--not one who can skillfully argue about the existence of God or the falsehood of creation, who is an expert in intellectual acrobatics, who is proficient in the coining and use of a few phrases. You can discover him on the station platform. He will quarrel for half an hour with a porter for the sake of two annas!"
(Annas = 16 annas make One Indian Rupee)
If you are Ramprasad, feel that all are Ramprasad. One Divine Consciousness pervades all. It sees through all, It works through all. All ears are yours. Feel as such. What an expansion of heart you experience! All barriers are now broken down. Everywhere you behold the one Lord, one Krishna, the God who is both immanent and transcendent.
"The aspirant should be very careful. Not even an angry look or the slightest trace of irritability should arise in his heart. He should possess a sweet heart and a sweet tongue."
"May God bless you all with health, long life, peace, prosperity and eternal bliss!"
-----------------------------------------------------
"If you take one step towards God, He takes ten steps towards you." - Swami Sivananda
-------------------------------------------------------
I can only add to this great teachings is, to reach GOD one has to be like GOD, all the time and always and yet remain anonymous.
Sianala, Montreal, June 2007
Instead of rewriting everything which already had been written and said many many times by many great saints, here is a discourse from Shri Swami Sivananda ji on the real sadhu (Saint) Ego and God.
"If you find mercy and humility in a person, then alone can you know that he is a Sadhu.
His heart will melt at the suffering of others.
Man has a sin-hardened heart.
When it begins to melt.
A Sadhu need not deliver lectures on the Panchadasi.
He need not necessarily be able to deliver eloquent discourses on the Gita (Discourse by Shri Krishna given to Arjun in the battle ground of Krukshetra-Sacred scripture of Hindus or Sanatana Dharma).
He may not be able to comment for three hours on a single verse of the Brahma Sutra, but a sweet aroma will always be emanating from him. This will attract you to him. It will give you peace and inner bliss when you approach him. All your worry and anxiety will disappear as you approach him. His very look will elevate you. His words will inspire you and engrave themselves on the tablet of your heart. Your nature will be transformed by his very look. You will turn a new page in your life. Such will be his power! Such is the glory of true mercy and humility!"People have a hard heart, a heart harder than granite, harder than diamond, on account of wrong actions done life after life. This heart should melt. Only then can they have Self-realization. Note well that there is no short-cut to Self-realization. A man without mercy, love and humility cannot realize the Self. You must understand this clearly. You must engrave these words in your heart. You must write them in bold letters on placards and place them in your rooms and offices. The Shri cannot manifest Himself in a sin-hardened heart. It must melt like butter before He can reveal Himself."This melting is done by Kirtan and untiring selfless service rendered with the feeling that all are forms of Shri Narayana. Then you will develop a feeling of oneness with all. Listening to the scriptures and contemplation will be of no avail if there is no purification of the heart.
Vedantic Sadhana at this immature stage will only fatten your egoism and harden it. The bonds of worldliness will grow tighter and the veil of ignorance become thicker."Without purifying the heart no progress in Sadhana is possible. Therefore, practise Japa, sing Kirtan, do untiring selfless service. Be generous. Give, give, give. Kill vanity. Worldly people have their own vanity, but much harder is the egoism of a Sadhu. He thinks that he is superior to a householder because he knows the Gita by heart and he can deliver thrilling lectures for weeks on end on each verse of the Upanishads. This spiritual pride is extremely difficult to eradicate."Maya assumes many different forms.
The ego assumes various shapes. Just as water takes on the form of the vessel into which it is poured, so also the ego adjusts itself to all circumstances and persists in its work.
"You renounce the world so that you can get rid of the vanity of wealth and material desires. Now you acquire another vanity--the vanity of renunciation. In order to crush the ego you do scavenging, though you are highly educated. Now the ego assumes the subtle form of the vanity of service. You bow to all, you prostrate to all, in order to develop humility. This indefatigable ego comes up there also--you now have the most dangerous vanity of humility. You feel inwardly that you are humbler than others. This ego is your terrible enemy. It wages guerrilla warfare with you. Beware! Beware! Beware!".
If you are sincere you can eradicate this ego through Japa, Kirtan and selfless service. Sincere people are very rare in this world. You can count them on your finger-tips. Sincerity--it is a very rare virtue! It is a combination of several virtues--of truthfulness, straight-forwardness, simplicity, absence of vanity, courage, fearlessness, tenacity of purpose, love and humility. All these go to form sincerity. A sincere man is immediately respected and trusted by all. Only if you have this virtue will there be rapid spiritual progress. Only then will you realize the fullest benefits of the Japa, Kirtan and meditation that you practise daily.
"Introspect and find out how you are progressing in the cultivation of these divine virtues. You are not practising introspection regularly. You have not the strength of mind or the power of discrimination to introspect. You think that you are very much advanced, but when a test comes you fail miserably. It is because there has been no real progress, no real spiritual advancement. It is vanity that makes you think that you are very advanced."
Apply this acid test on yourself: does your heart melt at the suffering of others? Has charity and generosity become your very nature? Your money belongs to the Lord. You have no business to keep more than you need. How can you accumulate wealth when your God in the form of a poor man is starving? How can you take food four times a day when the beggar--Lord Narayana--is starving outside the door? These are the tests of spiritual progress.
"Do you run to a poor man walking along the street and offer him food? Do you rush to the aid of a sick or injured man lying on the roadside and ask, 'My Lord, in what way may I serve thee?' If you do so, then you are really advancing on the spiritual path. You will soon develop cosmic love, which is the threshold of liberation."
If you really want God, then all these things must be done. You should have mercy. You should feel that you are only a trustee of your money; you are like a gatekeeper. God has given you money. You should share it with others. Purchase blankets in winter and distribute them to the poor lying on the roadside. What a joy you feel! The man who has not shared what he has with others has a poor heart indeed, though he may be a millionaire. Even the man who has nothing to eat is the richest man in the world if he has a large heart, if he shares what he has with others.
"The real Sadhu is one who has nothing to call his own except a large, magnanimous heart--not one who can skillfully argue about the existence of God or the falsehood of creation, who is an expert in intellectual acrobatics, who is proficient in the coining and use of a few phrases. You can discover him on the station platform. He will quarrel for half an hour with a porter for the sake of two annas!"
(Annas = 16 annas make One Indian Rupee)
If you are Ramprasad, feel that all are Ramprasad. One Divine Consciousness pervades all. It sees through all, It works through all. All ears are yours. Feel as such. What an expansion of heart you experience! All barriers are now broken down. Everywhere you behold the one Lord, one Krishna, the God who is both immanent and transcendent.
"The aspirant should be very careful. Not even an angry look or the slightest trace of irritability should arise in his heart. He should possess a sweet heart and a sweet tongue."
"May God bless you all with health, long life, peace, prosperity and eternal bliss!"
-----------------------------------------------------
"If you take one step towards God, He takes ten steps towards you." - Swami Sivananda
-------------------------------------------------------
I can only add to this great teachings is, to reach GOD one has to be like GOD, all the time and always and yet remain anonymous.
ॐ नमः शिवाय!
Sianala, Montreal, June 2007
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