New Post: "Sivananda daily reading for 24th November"

[swamiji]

MOST IMPORTANT SADHANA

Man is a mixture of three ingredients. These are the human element,
the brutal instinct and the divine ray. He is endowed with a finite
intellect, a perishable body, a little knowledge and a little power.
This makes him distinctly human. Lust, anger and hatred belong to his
brutal nature.

The reflection of cosmic intelligence is at the back of his intellect.
So he is an image of God. When the brutal instincts die, when this
ignorance is rent asunder, when he is able to bear insult and injury,
then he becomes one with the divine.

A thirsting aspirant is one who practises self-denial. He always tries
to feel that the body does not belong to him. If anyone beats or cuts
him, either his hand or throat, he should remain quiet. He should not
speak even one single harsh word - because the body is not his. He
starts his sadhana (practice) saying: "I am not this body. I am not
this mind. Chidananda Rupa Sivoham."

One harsh word throws a man off balance and a little disrespect upsets
him. How weak he has become, despite his boasted intellect, his high
position in society, his degrees, his diplomas and titles.

Bear insult; bear injury. This is the essence of all sadhana. This is
the most important sadhana. If you succeed in this, you can very
easily enter the illimitable domain of eternal bliss. Nirvikalpa
samadhi (super-conscious state) will come by itself. This is the most
difficult sadhana. But it is easy for those who have burning vairagya
(dispassion) and true yearning for liberation.

First you must become like a block of stone. Only then you will be
established in this sadhana. Now nothing can affect you. Abuse,
ridicule, mockery, insult, persecution - none of these can have any
influence on you.

-

Life is God in expression.
Life is joy.
Life is the flooding bliss of the spirit.
Life is the fight for fullness and perfection.
Life is a battle for attaining supreme independence.

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