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Omkarananda AshramDiary 2002Sayings ofSwami Omkaranandafor Every Week of The Year
Comment: The decoration between each week leads back to the top of the diary. 1st week Go
on increasing the number of times you repeat the mantra. It
is these things that constitute the real treasures. All else
is irrelevant. No matter how comfortable you feel in the
world, how many houses you have, how many pleasures you
have, all these are of no value. They are an illusion and a
delusion. Only one thing is of value: have you devotion to
the Divine? If you have it, you are immortal,
indestructible, all-blessed, full of peace and joy, full of
freedom and beauty, full of grace and light.
Those
who sit before the presence of the Divine find ever-new
knowledge, ever-new beauty, ever-new joys, ever-new wonders.
The Divine is infinitely marvellous, and every minute It is
something wonderful, It is the same and not the same. The
screen remains the same, but the pictures are changing every
moment.
2nd week The
Divine is ever the same, yet also ever new. All the various
aspects of the Divine present themselves to the spiritual
heart. The spiritual heart says, "The Divine is the treasure
of treasures, the wonder of wonders. It is the greatest
creative wonder. It creates newer and newer things every
moment. It reveals Its infinite dimensions, Its infinite
dimensions in beauty, fullness, joy, love, wisdom, - in all
the greatest values." Therefore the spiritual heart clings
to the Divine more and more, is intoxicated by the Divine,
the miracle-working Divine, the all-protecting
Divine.
Affection
makes each one beautiful in the eyes of the other. So does
devotion make you beautiful in the eyes of the Divine.
Devotion can endow you with great beauty, and devotion can
endow you with great richness, devotion can make you happy
and peaceful and fearless in all conditions. Therefore
develop devotion and love for the Divine. 3rd week The
finite individual gains infinite strength, infinite
resources, peace, joy, blessedness, by constant
self-surrender to the Divine which is the Infinite.
So
the spiritual heart with every mantra-repetition offers its
whole being to the Divine. When
one's life is the responsibility of the Divine, every minute
God thinks for that life. When God begins to think for a
person you can imagine the blessedness of such a person, the
joy of such a person, the wealth, the wisdom, the peace of
such a person.
Increase
the love for the Divine, - you will find the air will be
filled with the Presence of the Divine, and the Divine will
serve you more than a mother serves her only little baby.
The Divine will fill the air around you and will be always
an unforgettable, inseparable Presence with you, constantly
guiding you, constantly inspiring in you the right feelings.
The greater the love for the Divine, the more the Divine
feels responsible for you, and the more your thoughts and
feelings are His thoughts and feelings, so too your actions.
4th week Try
to surrender yourself to the Divine more and more. Make your
life the responsibility of the Divine. It is then that life
is completely fulfilled, and completely protected. With
every repetition of the mantra beg the Divine to accept your
entire life and to guide you in all manner of ways, to abide
with you all the time. Automatically when your life is
surrendered to the Divine, when your life is made the
responsibility of the Divine, the Divine will be with you,
otherwise He cannot take care of you every moment.
When
your life is His responsibility, automatically He will be
with you all the time. So, surrender your life to the
responsibility of the Divine. Continuously
generate the feeling that the Divine is all around you,
above you, below, to the right and to the left, in front and
behind. This feeling must be cultivated again and again.
Such a feeling swallows up a thousand useless feelings.
Apart from that, on the positive side, it actually brings
the presence of the Divine around you.
5th week The
love for the Divine increases the more we reflect upon the
wonderful ways by which He has given His own experience to
thousands of God-seekers. The
love for the Divine also increases by constant reflection
upon those passages of philosophy which describe the nature
of the Truth. The love for the Divine increases by being in the company of those who also love the Divine. The love for the Divine increases also by constantly doing selfless, good, noble, divine works.
The
love for the Divine increases again by reflecting upon the
many wonders in life which are inexplicable except by the
acceptance of the operations of divine grace.The love of the
Divine is taken away by impurities of many kinds. Any trust
in that which is merely perishing, passing, is an impurity.
Love of pleasures is also a kind of impurity. When these
impurities are diminished and purity increases, one knows
exactly where one's heart's joy lies.
6th week Thought
is also a sound. Whatever you think is heard by the Divine,
and it is also seen by the Divine. Thought is a picture, it
is also a sound, it is also a vibration. God sees your
thoughts and also hears them. They can be seen because they
are pictures, they can be heard because they are tunes. So,
even when you merely think the Divine is all around you,
that thought has a profound influence on the Divine Itself.
And therefore the Divine is made to turn towards you.
Whether
you want it or not the moment you press the key of the
piano, it sounds - the moment you think of the Divine,
whether you want it or not, the Divine responds.
The
real riches are devotion, wisdom. If you have devotion you
can buy the wealth of wealth. If you have devotion you can
buy the creator of wealth. You can have endless wealth, if
you have devotion. Devotion is the only currency and money
which can buy the Divine.
7th week When
a person is very insincere, and yet wants to think of the
Divine, nothing happens. So, devotion and sincerity are also
very very necessary. And then any thought in relation to the
Divine has a profound influence on the Divine, and the
Divine in turn wins in you a profound influence. Therefore
generate again and again the feeling that the Divine is
around you, with you. Generate the feeling that the work you
are doing is the Divine's work. At once the Divine responds
to this feeling, and makes your work really divine, more and
more divine.
Life
is a matter of two hours, use these two hours to do
something intensively good before the two hours are over. If
the time is lost it cannot be recovered. Life is not a
vacation, it is a school, a place of discipline. Those who
consider life a holiday will have to pay a heavy price and
for life after life their limitations will
persist.
8th week If
you have a picture of the Divine Mother, think of the Divine
Mother. She is sexless, timeless, the bodiless infinite
Reality, yet she can be meditated upon as a beautiful form.
Think of the beautiful form of the Divine, find infinite
light and peace and joy pouring from that form into you. Be
bathed in the light of the Divine, in the peace of the
Divine, in the consciousness of the Divine. After
one and a half hours of such continuous repetition, just
look at your eyes, - how different they are, how wonderful
they are!
Every
little meditation adds power to the tendency to meditate,
strengthens the tendency to meditate, and after several
months and years, meditation becomes automatic. The moment a
person sits, meditation comes automatically. So,
every meditation adds to the strength of the tendency to
meditate. Even if you stop meditation for just one day, the
next day the desire for meditation reduces to 90% only.
After a month it is only 50% and after two months it is only
20%. Then after six months the tendency disappears, and it
is difficult to cultivate interest in meditation again.
Therefore be greedy for every meditation. Every little
meditation makes a little groove, a deeper groove in the
mind; and the more it is made by repeated meditations, the
better, and the more the possibility of God-experience.The
spiritual heart finds the whole world illuminated by the
Light of the divine presence. The spiritual individual
extends his heart around the world and finds the
mantra-repetition everywhere. It extends his vision, spreads
his vision over the whole cosmos and beholds the Divine
everywhere in every point of space. In this state it looks
as if in the whole creation there is nothing but one heart,
the heart of devotion to the Divine.
9th week By
constant mantra-repetition, the cosmic consciousness is
attained. Since mantra is the highest form of devotion and
full of mystical syllables, knowledge of the Infinite dawns.
The sun becomes one eye of the person, and the stars become
the other eye of the person. There follows identity with the
cosmos, in inner spirit. Also there is expansion beyond the
cosmos as one dwells in the delights of knowledge of the
Absolute. Even
though one is living in the body, one is yet dwelling in the
boundless freedom of the Infinite. The face of the Divine
becomes visible everywhere. The grace of the Divine protects
the person everywhere and at all times.
Unless
God helps, one can never truly progress, one can never have
true wisdom, or real self-surrender to the Divine, or an
effective faith in the Divine. So, beg for these fundamental
virtues. Let the heart constantly ask for these treasures
from the Divine.
10th week Every
little meditation adds power to the tendency to meditate,
strengthens the tendency to meditate, and after several
months and years, meditation becomes automatic. The moment a
person sits, meditation comes automatically. So,
every meditation adds to the strength of the tendency to
meditate. Even if you stop meditation for just one day, the
next day the desire for meditation reduces to 90% only.
After a month it is only 50% and after two months it is only
20%. Then after six months the tendency disappears, and it
is difficult to cultivate interest in meditation again.
Therefore be greedy for every meditation. Every little
meditation makes a little groove, a deeper groove in the
mind; and the more it is made by repeated meditations, the
better, and the more the possibility of
God-experience.
11th week What
does the Bible mean by being single-minded in your devotion
to the Divine? It must be understood in this sense, where
everything is disappearing and only the Divine is present,
where all the senses of the human individual are
concentrating in one single experience of the Divine. This
is the most blessed state. Such
states should be accompanied by intensive service during the
day. Nature loves those who are most useful. Nature rewards
those who work hard and accomplish many things. So does the
Divine, and those who love the Divine are generally the
accomplishers of great works in the world.
Self-surrender
is essential in order that the ego cannot constantly
interfere with spiritual development. Self-surrender is
essential in order that the human soul may obtain boundless
strength and peace and joy. Humility and self-surrender born
of spiritual understanding are essential. Humility because
the Divine is everything, all-powerful, all-wonderful, and
the human individual is nothing.
12th week Take
a new attitude to life governed by higher wisdom, which
constantly tells you what is what, what is valuable and what
is not; what is an aid and help for development and what is
not, - not only not a help but a positive obstacle to
spiritual development. So,
know the world to be a marvellous school for rapid
unfoldment of Divine nature, and never as a holiday place.
Those who consider it as a vacation will pay heavily. They
cannot know real peace, nor happiness, nor freedom from
worries and fears and anxieties. Take
life for what it is, basically that is: a golden opportunity
for contacting That which is the Absolute and the Infinite.
Whether you understand the divine Presence or not, just try
to feel the divine Presence in whatsoever way you can think
of, and the Divine at once understands and responds. It is
enough if the Divine understands that there is a feeling of
longing for the Divine in you. That is enough, that will
work wonders, that will persuade the Divine to abide with
you and to attend to your needs.
13th week Devotion
is a mighty power. If you have devotion to the Divine, all
life becomes divine; no matter how you live, where you live,
it all becomes divine. If
you have affection, it covers up a thousand mistakes, and
also grants you the wisdom not to make those mistakes in the
future. All the mistakes of life are forgiven, the moment
you have devotion and affection for the Divine. That is the
most important thing. That liberates you from law, that
invests you with a new dignity and a new life. Therefore
cultivate affection for the Divine. No matter where you are
living, how you are living, it will be completely divine and
acceptable to the Divine provided you have affection for the
Divine, love for the Divine, unconditioned devotion to the
Divine. That is the most essential thing. It is of primary importance.
Beg the Divine to grant you more devotion. Devotion makes you most beautiful, devotion makes you rich.
14th week Increase
your faith in the Divine whether you fully understand the
Nature of the Divine or not; go on expressing your devotion
to the Divine in whatsoever manner you may conceive of Him,
the response will come. Intensify your thoughts on the
Divine, and there is bound to be a response for every such
feeling and thought.
Live
a life which does not fulfil your personal wishes but leads
you towards the resolution of the problem of life, and gives
you infinite peace, infinite happiness, infinite
possessions, infinite life. Strive
towards this, relentlessly, without hesitating to sacrifice
anything that is demanded, without any compromise. Your mind
will deceive you in a hundred ways. It will endeavour to
trick you into believing that bad things are good and it
tries to steal your time and prevent you from going to God.
Try to protect yourself from all the dangers from within
yourself and from without. And make as rapid progress as
possible, as outside God you can have no true peace and no
true happiness.
15th week The
mercy of the Divine is unlimited. Therefore the Divine
prompts in all those who love the Divine, many intuitions
and illuminations. One
of the intuitions is in relation to the timeless Reality:
one has the sudden feeling that one is eternal, unborn,
infinite. This knowledge dawns on oneself, automatically.
When such a knowledge dawns, a thousand sorrows disappear,
all the serious challenges of life fade into
nothingness.
So
long as one is identified with one's problem, as is the case
with the worldly person, one is lost in sorrows. One has not
the means to defeat these sorrows. The spiritual individual
in consequence of the intuition of the Infinite at once
stands back from all tragedies. He becomes the observer of
the observer of the tragedies. The tragedies are something
else, and he is something else, whereas in the case of the
worldly person he is the tragedies and the tragedies are
himself.
16th week The
divine grace and love enable the spiritual individual to
perceive the Timeless, to perceive the ever-watching,
all-independent divine Consciousness within. The heart of
that Consciousness is seen, it is full of creative
possibilities, full of infinite peace and joy, power and
strength and knowledge and grace. The
moment a challenge is faced, one looks at it from the
standpoint of this inner revelation of timelessness. From
that standpoint, if experiences are seen, they pale into
insignificance. They become momentary affairs, the whole
life becomes a momentary affair, and one ceases to worry,
one is liberated from all worries and anxieties. Such
is the Grace of the Divine that it is causing in the
individual the most marvellous wisdom, the most marvellous
perceptions and intuitions.
17th week There
is a wise person. The moment he gets angry, he perceives
that he is getting angry. He becomes two personalities:
internally he is calm and still and peaceful, he is
observing, he sees the anger rising, as he would see another
person in anger. And as he sees anger rise, anger becomes
ashamed of itself, it becomes weaker and falls down. So, the
wise man does not become anger, he observes the anger rise
in him. The wise man is never identified with his
experience, the man in general is completely identified with
his body, and with whatever is happening to him.
In
the sleeping body there is the never-sleeping divine Spirit.
In the suffering body there is the all-joyous divine
Reality. In the restless man there is the Spirit of infinite
peace and stillness. So this knowledge is increasingly
prompted in you by Divine compassion. The more you have this
knowledge, the wiser you become, the more you become a pure
person, the more you become a sage.
18th week The
mercy of Divine grace is so great, that the Divine prompts
in the human individual such intuitions as to the two
aspects in himself. One aspect which is being an observer
and another aspect which is involved in something. It is
with the help of the aspect which is not involved in the
experience that he becomes the master of all
experiences.
Because
the abstract qualities of the Divine are not easy to
imagine, not easy to construct a picture from, we can take
any picture we love especially, or any picture that has a
spiritual nature, and into this picture we can pour in all
these qualities of the Divine. After some time the picture
becomes a living thing, and the nature of the Divine, the
intelligence of the Divine, the consciousness of the Divine,
the heart of the Divine begin to work through that picture.
This is the easiest method for most, and the quickest way of spiritual development.
19th week The
Divine is present in all beings as the witnessing principle.
And it is present everywhere and in all things as the
witnessing principle. Generally
man thinks the trees are just trees, the stones are just
stones, that in the forest he is alone. This is a common
mistake of the common man. In every tree, in every stone
there is the witnessing presence of the Divine. The Divine
is not only witnessing what is happening to the tree, what
happened to the tree some months ago, or some years ago, but
what is going to happen to the tree some months or years
ahead, and it is also witnessing what is happening in the
environment. It is witnessing everything. It is the subtlest
principle which is even in the hardest of the hardest
things. It is the subtlest essence which is penetrating
everything, present in everything, witnessing everything.
20th week The
Divine is the inner controller in all beings, the inner
ruler in all beings, the inner prompter in all beings.
He
is the prompting principle in all beings. The Divine is
operative not only as a passive witness of everything, but
also as a dynamic prompter of the thoughts and feelings in
persons. Knowing this, the spiritual heart always reflects
on the Divine, clings to the Divine, adores the Divine,
serves the Divine, abides with the Divine, and grows in the
consciousness of the Divine. Always this knowledge of the
Divine dominates the spiritual heart and enriches the
spirituality of the spiritual individual.
By
years of devotion to a picture, the Divine enters the
picture. The Divine is touched by the devotion of the person
to the picture, and this person understands the picture- no
matter what picture it is that he reveres, - to be an
embodiment of divine peace, joy, wisdom, intelligence,
happiness, light and so forth. 21st week Whether
you are right or not right, whether you are progressing or
not progressing, go on moving towards this aim of
God-experience. Whether you have facilities or no
facilities, whether it is easy to walk this path of
God-experience or not, keep going towards God-experience.
Don't look at the difficulties, don't stop to examine and
say whether this is the right path or not the right path.
Don't look back to see whether you have made any progress or
not. Keep going towards God-experience. That is the only
solution to your central problem of life. You can never be
happy in any other condition.
The
world appears to be a formulation only to the reading mind,
the mind which is trying to understand what the universe is,
but in itself, that Infinite, has no formulation, nothing
whatsoever. It alone is everywhere, - and alone everywhere
light, everywhere peace, everywhere perfection, everywhere
self-knowledge, absolute knowledge, absolute light,
unconditioned perfection.
22nd week The
very nature of the human mind is such that it is always
descending. Therefore the spiritual individual tries to
transform this human mind. All the dross of the impurities
are burnt in the fire of divine wisdom, in the fire of
divine aspirations, in the fire of divine love. When the
impurities are burnt, the human spirit becomes radiant, and
once it is radiant, it rises upward; no more is there any
tendency to descend. Even when you try to pull it down, it
rises up. Therefore
the value of divine wisdom, divine aspirations and divine
love - these three fires have to be kept constantly
burning.
When
there is purity, automatically God is visible everywhere,
automatically all wisdom comes to you. Purity is the only
foundation of all high perceptions. Purity is the endless
and luminous source of all wisdom, all happiness, all peace,
all divine experience.
23rd week The
world is an island where every man is caught. It is a
limited life, an unfortunate life, full of challenges,
dangers, unexpected and unforeseen happenings, highly
problematic, fearful. In
such a life the constant repetition of the Mantra suddenly
awakens the person, reveals the Truth, and shows the person
that he is one with the Truth in reality, with the Divine,
and this gives him tremendous courage, unlimited strength,
peace and joy, light and wisdom. All problems of life are
overcome. He says, "It matters not how the conditions of
life are, I am not this, I am in the heart of the divine
Reality. I am all-perfect in the Divine. I am a light in the
Divine, indestructible and eternal. Everything is all right
with me. These disasters which I see around me are mere
dream-products. I have nothing to do with them, they cannot
touch me, I am ever free, I cannot be touched, and I am
timeless and indestructible. I am in the Divine, the Divine
is in me." So he draws enormous courage, light and wisdom.
That is the great value of mantra-repetition. It awakens the
person to the divine Reality, it reveals the nature of the
Divine, it consummates the spiritual evolution of the human
individual.
24th week The
child has only to cry and the mother comes. Even so whether
we see the Divine or not, one has only to call for the
Divine and there will be wonders thereafter. It is enough
that the Divine has heard you. It is not necessary that you
should see the Divine in order to believe in the Divine and
get services from the Divine. It is enough if you address
your prayer to the Divine. It reaches Him and in any one of
a thousand ways, He responds to you.
It
is dangerous to fulfil the desires that you have, because
you don't get what you want from the fulfilment of those
desires. You really get what you want only by
God-experience. And God-experience demands real growth
within yourself. You harm yourself, if you have false
desires on the path. For God-experience there is no
alternative to the development of love, to the renunciation
of desires; to the development of purity, faith, devotion;
development of the spirit of renunciation, acquisition of
divine knowledge, doing good, and selfless works;
self-control.
25th week Constantly
charge everything around you with the divine Consciousness.
Awaken the Divine in all things, awaken the Divine in your
own inner heart. Just
as water pervades your body, so the Divine pervades the
whole universe. It can be felt, seen,conversed with, and
experienced. Intensify
the repetition of the mantra, and intensively feel and
experience the wondrous divine light and peace and joy, and
the divine presence. It is a mighty, all-knowing,
all-seeing, all-blessing presence; an all-accomplishing and
all-loving presence.
Everything
depends on you. The environment around you is an expression
of the heart within you. What is in your soul is visible on
your face. And what is visible on your face is imprinted in
the environment around you. Let us see that our lives are
wonderful, attractive, and you will see more wonders
happening.
26th week The
Divine is my joy, the Divine is my peace, the Divine is my
life. The Divine is my prosperity. The Divine is the light
of my eyes and the light of my intelligence. The Divine is
the soul of my soul. The Divine alone is
everywhere. I
live for the Divine, I breathe for the Divine. I work like a
giant for the Divine. I
think for the Divine, I feel for the Divine. Therefore the
Divine thinks for me, therefore the Divine feels for me,
therefore the Divine lives for me. Wherever
the Divine is, there is paradise, blessedness, true peace,
true prosperity, true freedom.The light in your eyes
reflects the light of the infinite divine Consciousness. The
love in your heart is a manifestation of the love of the
Infinite. Your life itself is a grand expression in the
infinite Delight. The Divinity which is infinite existence
and delight is giving itself the delight of presenting
itself to itself as a finite individuality.
27th week Your
eyes will become pure when you behold the Divine in all
people. If
you perceive the Divine in all people, your eyes are pure.
If you perceive all persons to be Divine, and perceive the
one Divine in all people, then your eyes are pure.
If
you find the one name of the Divine in all sounds, and find
all sounds and tones in the one name of the Divine, - if all
sounds remind you of, and put you in touch with the Divine,
- then your ears are pure. If
all your speech is in adoration of the Divine, if all your
talk and your words are in adoration of the Divine, then
your tongue is pure.
That
is greatness, that is nobility which identifies itself with
all life. That is a great heart which finds itself in all
hearts. That is a great mind which finds itself in all
minds. That is a great soul which finds itself in all
souls.
28th week Any
limitation - even if it is the limitation of the universe -
is a negation of the Truth. Truth is unlimited. Only the
unlimited is the most valuable. All
that is limited is painful, even when it is most pleasurable
- that pleasure will be followed by pain. Anything that is
limited is not the object of pursuit for any wise man.
Anything that is unlimited - and that which is unlimited is
the Divine - is true freedom, true joy and true greatness.
That
has to be attained through constant repetition of the
mantra, through constant love of the Divine, through
untiring and endless services for the Divine.
In
some people love is born by much suffering in life; the
suffering dissolves the hardness of the inner nature. To
some people love comes as a result of continuous good deeds,
good feelings and good actions. Some are inflamed by an
aspiration for experience of God, and that gently opens
their heart, and through it love expresses
itself.
29th week The
spiritual heart awakens the Divine from every atom of the
universe. In
this manner, by constant repetition of the mystical
syllables, the spiritual heart charges every cell of the
body with the divine Consciousness. It lives in a world of
infinite beauty, love, light, grace. It is always dynamic,
always fiery, always progressive, expansive and triumphant.
So,
intensify the repetition of the mystical syllables,
intensify the concentration on the Divine, and be charged
with the consciousness of the Divine.
Everywhere
and at all times the Infinite is secure and safe in its own
infinite delight, beauty and power. It is troubled by
nothing. It knows no limitations of any type. Its very
nature is creative consciousness of infinite poise. It is
constituted of the substances of infinite perfection. You
are born of it, you are sustained by it, you will be
withdrawn into it. 30th week Daily
you must touch the Truth without a break, - it is then that
something happens in the intelligence. The intelligence
becomes heated, transformed, it becomes luminous, and
perceives the Divine. The
greatness of spiritual development lies in the continuity,
the unbroken repetition of the mystical syllables. Go on
repeating the mantra while focusing the inner intelligence
upon the nature of the Divine. Reflect upon the nature of
the Divine. Love the nature of the Divine. Understand the
operative power and presence of the Divine in your inner
life and around you.
Purity
of heart is the secret of happiness, and happiness is the
very nature of the Divine. A person who is pure, is full of
devotion. Devotion is joy, it is ecstasy, it is inner
intoxication. One
who is like this always has the Divine trapped in his heart.
God is most delighted to stay in such a heart. And such a
person has good intelligence.
31st week It
is the senses of the body that distort the presence of the
Divine, hide the presence of the Divine. The eyes reveal
only a physical universe, the thoughts in the minds of
others we do not see, the feelings in the hearts of others
we do not feel. The air around we do not see, though we may
feel it, though we may breathe it in. There are many things
which we do not see. The physical senses are limited, they
do not reveal the greater realities, and the greatest
reality is the Divine Itself. The
Divine is present everywhere, - inseparable. It is in
everyone, It is infinite joy. The crude and dull senses do
not permit the experience of the fact that the Divine is
infinite joy. The Divine is infinite peace, the peace that
passeth all understanding. The Divine is infinite joy,
abundant joy, eternal joy. The Divine is infinite power, the
only power, the mountain-moving power. It is a wondrous
power, yet It is the love, infinite love, boundless love.
These thoughts constantly arise as the mantra is being repeated.
32nd week Reflect
upon the various aspects and qualities of the Divine.
Remember the Divine is seated in your intelligence as light.
Without light there can be no thought, no perception of
thought. That light in the intelligence carries in itself
the consciousness of the Divine. That consciousness is
all-knowing, all-perfect, all-pervading. That is your
essential nature, not the body, not the passing thoughts,
not the passing feelings, not human society, not your
heritage, nothing of these belong to you - not the outer
conditions of life, none of them belong to you. None of them
are natural to you, only the image of the Divine is natural
to you. Only the light in the inner intelligence is natural
to you. Only the infinite peace and joy of the divine light
is natural to you. Death is not natural to you, pain is not
natural to you, disease is not natural to you, limitations
of any kind are not natural to you. All these are
superficial, external, not belonging to the Divine. You are
something other than all these. This
knowledge you obtain through constant mantra-repetition,
through constant thought of the Divine.
33rd week Engage
yourself in a conversation with the Divine. Every such
conversation is of immense value, and brings the Divine
closer to you, even as it takes you closer to the Divine.
As
you do not move anywhere to experience the space, so you do
not need to move anywhere to experience the Divine. Being
subtler than space It is in space, everywhere, and therefore
most easy to experience. It is all around you, no matter
where you are, where you go, and how you are. Try to grow conscious of these facts and make more rapid spiritual progress. Life
becomes an ecstasy when one constantly, earnestly, sincerely
spends it in the praise of the Divine. The Divine is the
source of all systems of knowledge, the source of every
conceivable form of joy, the source of every intuition,
illumination, revelation. So spend a lifetime in dynamic and
intensive repetition of the glory of the Divine - this is
the blessed life, the powerful life, the richest life;
enriched by the very grace and qualities of the
Divine.
34th week That
is divine: what is ever-young, ever-happy, ever-peaceful,
ever-perfect, ever-beautiful, ever-strong, ever-blessed,
ever-successful. That is divine. And what is temporary,
perishing, limited, now happy and now unhappy, now strong,
the next moment weak, now good, the next minute bad, now
weak, the next minute a little better, and again very weak -
such a thing is human. Such a thing is perishable, that is
bondage, that is unhappiness, that is not God. God is that
which is ever-the-same, always beautiful, always strong,
always peaceful, always divine, always wise, always calm,
always powerful. That is divine, and that is attained
through intensive and dynamic mantra-repetition and
service. Purity
of heart is the secret of happiness, and happiness is the
very nature of the Divine. A person who is pure is full of
devotion. Devotion is joy, it is ecstasy, it is inner
intoxication.
One
who is like this always has the Divine held in his heart.
God is most delighted to stay in such a heart. And such a
person has good intelligence.
35th week What
is the cause of human imperfection or impurity or sin? - It
is the activity of the senses. The senses are always active,
always people want to taste something, have something, see
something beautiful, hear something. So the senses are
always leading the soul here and there, in a chaotic way.
Through
the senses, the soul is externalised, and forgets itself. It
forgets its inner relations with the Divine. It mistakes its
sense-life for its real life, and therefore, if there is a
little disease, it is terrified. If there is death, it is
anxious. Supposing there is a threat to the sense-enjoyment,
at once it becomes disturbed. It has now effectively lost
the relationship with the inner Reality of endless
perfection.
Wonders happen when our heart is on the Divine. The heart is not on the Divine when the name of the Divine is not on our lips.
36th week
Life is a dream, but let it be a wonderful dream, let it not
be a nightmare. The
wise man dreams his life wonderfully, he accomplishes
something in the dream, something great, something of
lasting value, something which lasts even beyond the
dream-existence.
The
wise person, the spiritual individual makes a heaven of the
dream, and therefore he works harder than most worldly
people. It is only those who are not truly spiritual and yet
have some kind of attraction for the spiritual life, or who
are frustrated in life and therefore try to take refuge in
spiritual life - it is only such people who abuse the
philosophy and wisdom that life is a dream; with the result
they say, "Life is a dream, why should I work? Why should I
improve myself, why should I improve the environment?" One
becomes lazy, a victim of ignorance and error, and harms
oneself and others.
37th week An
unwise person is overcome by the challenges of life. The
wise person, the spiritual individual, overcomes the
challenges of life. He is the master of life. All
others who are called teachers and professors and masters,
are themselves the slaves of life, of time, of fate. The
true master is one who is the master of his fate, master of
conditions, master of his life, master of the knowledge of
the Truth. He alone stands in light, whereas mankind in
general stands in the darkness of ignorance. No one can
stand in light unless he has knowledge of the Truth,
experience of the Divine. For the Truth or the Divine is the
only light, it is the light of lights, it is the light that
lighteth all souls. It is the light in which there is no
darkness. It is the light which is eternal life, beauty,
wisdom, perfection.
Achieve
one-pointedness, be only with one thing, the Divine. And for
this no technique is more wonderful than the continuous
repetition of mantra.
38th week The
Divine is all-merciful, infinite love. So the Divine
immediately responds to the call. Even
a cruel mother cannot resist the crying child. She somehow
attends to the child. If this is the case with a human
mother, how much more it isthe case with the Divine. The
Divine is infinitely loving, infinitely compassionate. So
the Divine says, "Oh, someone is calling Me!" and then the
Divine stands by you. The Divine responds to your call. The
Divine is all-knowing, omnipresent. The Divine responds to
your call by being with you. It responds to your call by
being even in the very soul of your soul, and also in the
soul of the soul of all others, and also in the soul of the
space around you. So, this is one of the direct results of
mantra-repetition.
You are that with which you dwell in your inner spirit.
39th week The
knower of the Divine is the most blessed person, his
treasures are endless, eternal. He himself is eternal, he is
full of peace and joy, nothing can oppress him, nothing can
trouble him. No matter how serious a thing be, it does not
produce any ripple on his Consciousness, so wonderful is his
state. So,
to those who are initiated into spiritual life the highest
secrets of this silly - apparently silly and stupid -
process of continuous mantra-repetition becomes
visible. It
is a simple thing but yet therein lies the secret of all
evolution, all highest attainment. You attain infinitely
more than a person through the conquest of the whole world
would attain. You will attain infinitely more than what the
wisest and the most learned man in the world attains by his
great learning. You will attain infinitely more than what a
sensualist tries to attain through his endless
sense-pleasures and enjoyments. So, it is the wonder of
wonders, this activity, this simple activity of
mantra-repetition which looks like the activity of a
madman.
40th week Life,
when you analyse, seems to be nothing more than a dream. Not
only analysis tells you this, but also experience of the
Truth tells you. When you just touch the Truth and think of
eternity, a life-span pales into nothingness, one hour, a
minute's duration, that is how it looks. It is the proper
perspective to life. The true perspective to life is given
only by knowledge of the Truth.
The
moment you say 'father' at once there is the image of your
father before you. Struggle hard to say 'father' without
thinking of him, - you will never succeed, it is an
impossible task. Even so you can never repeat the mantras
without some conception of the Divine. The Image of the
Divine and the mantra of the Divine go together; the thought
and feeling for the Divine is consequently
aroused.
41st week The
moment you repeat the mantra there is at once the flash of
knowledge of the Divine; there is the image of the Divine
apart from the image of the Divine you conceive. There is an
actual image of the Divine evoked in consequence of the
utterance of the mystical syllables. There is a real image
of the Divine, a natural image of the Divine, the moment you
utter the mystical syllable. So,
we have to enrich every act of the repetition of the mantra
through our knowledge of the Divine, idea of the Divine,
love of the Divine, and the conviction that nothing is more
valuable than the Divine and that the Divine is listening,
seeing, understanding, responding, blessing,
protecting.
As
the consciousness in the dream-state creates everything, so
the consciousness of the Divine which is with you in
meditation, can create everything, It is the supreme
creator, - all-observing, all-seeing, all-knowing,
all-beautiful, all-powerful.
42nd week Everything
in nature is subject to the hand of time. Therefore
everything is changing. Sometimes it is hot, sometimes it is
cold, sometimes it is neither hot nor cold; sometimes there
is disturbance, sometimes there is peace; sometimes there is
pleasure, sometimes there is pain. This is the nature of
things. Time
is always bringing about changes. There is only one thing
which is not changing: the heart of the spiritual
individual. It is ever the same sunshine, it is full of
devotion, the knowledge of the Truth, and Truth is
unchanging. Truth is not subject to time, therefore there
are no changes in Truth, and there are no changes in
perfection.
It
is better to constantly say, "The Divine as infinite divine
intelligence is everywhere, penetrating every part of my
body, present everywhere, at all times, in all conditions."
Time
and space which we experience physically are transcended,
for the very nature of the mystical syllables is
timelessness. Their very nature is divine Light.
43rd week The
more one surrenders oneself to the Divine, the more peaceful
one becomes. A sense of indestructibility sets in. All
problems are resolved. Problems persist so long as the
person is self-centred and has not given himself to the
Divine. Upon surrendering to the Divine, One becomes likened
unto the Divine, and problems cease to excist. Problems will otherwise continue while a person remains detached from the Divine.
44th week Every
hour is an hour of surrender to the Divine. Constantly there
is the prayer in the heart, "Not I but You, O Divinity."
Always it is the Divine that is put forward. The ego and the
limitations recede into the background. Always the Divine is
put first. Always one displaces oneself by the Divine, in
thought, in feeling, in will, in soul, in the entire being.
The Divine is established in oneself. Automatically
the ego and other limitations are dissolved, the person has
displaced himself by the Divine so many times, and so
persistently, that there is no more of himself. It is all
the Divine. Wherever
such a person goes there is success, prosperity, happiness,
light, wisdom, welfare, good news, progress, many blessings
for many
If you have the one Consciousness you have everything.
45th week Replace
yourself with the Divine at every step. Enshrine the Divine
in the temple of your inner being and thought and feeling
and will and heart. Human unhappiness, weakness, madness are
due to moral limitations, ssuch as jealousy, hatred, egoism,
pride and self-centredness. These are the causes of all
human restlessness and problems. In daily life activity and
experience, people are not the temples of the Divine but the
temples of jealousy, the temples of human weaknesses. They
'enshrine' these limitations, and therefore lose all the
grandeur that constantly causes peace, happiness and
strength. So, constantly replace yourself with the Divine.
Constantly converse with the Divine, in order that the
Divine can abide in you. Constantly offer yourself to the
Divine.
46th week Learn
the art of constantly turning the thought and feeling and
soul towards the Divine. Try again and again to surrender
all of your being to the Divine. Before it is too late,
begin the discipline right from this very minute. Nothing is
more terrible than to be ruled by human weaknesess. Before
human weaknesess can possess you, be possessed by the
Divine.
Be
filled with the Divine. Remain surrendered to the Infinite
which is beauty, peace, perfection. Again and again beg the
Divine to replace your limited knowledge with its infinite
wisdom, to replace your little personality with its
boundless divine personality, your little feelings with His
grand infinite feelings. Say this prayer in your heart again
and again until it becomes a reality. Render
your personality mighty, powerful, and wonderful; and there
is no other way to do that except by constant surrender to
the all-seeing, all-wonderful, all-knowing
Divinity.
47th week Stillness
and concentration in an involuntary way lead to sleep. A
person who concentrates on the Divine stillenss and who
remains intensely active with a sense of the Divine, will
possess feelings, knowledge and experience of the Divine
nature and presence. This will lead to illumination.
Thus
by intensity of concentration on the Divine, the spiritual
individual melts his whole being into the Divine. He begs
the Divine to fill him with grace, to fill him with divine
energies, the divine intelligence, with divine peace. He
begs the Divine to displace him by the Divine Himself. He
begs the Divine to work wonders, and in his surrender to the
Divine he himself tries to work wonders. He tries to work
like a giant for the Divine, think like a genius for the
Divine, day and night he is employed in the service of the
Divine, in devotion to the Divine
48th week We
can never know what the next hour has in store. A person may
die, or may become mad, or can have other obstacles, or be
diseased, or be tempted and absorbed in sense-pleasures.
Anything can happen. Or a person can change his view and
interests, in which case there is no more possibility of
obtaining the grace of the Divine.
When
the limbs are strong, when one is young, when the mind is in
a good state - that is the time to cling to the Divine with
all the strength of one's heart and will and soul. This
opportunity should never be lost. Anything can happen
tomorrow. You may no longer have any desires for the Divine,
or you may have obstacles and no taste for spiritual things;
anything can happen. Before any such tragedy defeats your
spiritual purpose try to cling to the Divine with all the
strength of your heart and soul and will.
Only
those who struggle hard to reach the divine destination gain
enormous spiritual results. 49th week Sometimes
the days are wonderful, sometimes the days are not so
wonderful. Sometimes the meditation is deep, sometimes the
meditation is superficial. Whether it is deep or superficial
or light-hearted, one should struggle hard to cling to the
Divine. And on the day the meditation is wonderful, increase
and intensify the meditation. On the day it is not so
wonderful, try to cling to the Divine with all the strength
of your heart and soul. Again and again convince your heart
that the Divine is the one thing that you need most. It is
the power of powers, the life of life. Without It everything
disappears.
The
great heart attracts grace. The great heart's mission is
giving peace, not asking for anything. It gives happiness
without asking for it. Its mission is distributing,
sacrificing, giving. Such great hearts attract grace. Grace
enables them to be more deeply spiritual.
50th week There
is a film, and there is the screen. The whole story is being
unrolled. Many events are taking place on the screen. As the
film is in progress suddenly the light goes off. What do you
see on the screen? - Nothing. How important light is for the
film! So it is for the world and for man. If the Divine
withdraws its light, at once the whole world will be
nothing. Exactly like the film and the light-source. Know
the Divine to be the Soul of soul, the one thing most
desirable, the one thing most important.
The
Divine does not need to be adored or praised, for the Divine
is infinite perfection, but such praise and adoration is a
necessity, a constitutional necessity for the human soul. It
is through that praise and adoration that the soul within
outgrows the human limitations, and assimilates into itself
something of the nature of the object it is praising and
adoring, the object it is loving.
51st week The
very nature of the world is such that it is darkness. It is
a condition of heavy limitations. In this darkness the only
way to perceive things is to keep the light burning. Suppose
you extinguish the light; the world becomes dark. Darkness
is conquered only for as long as the light remains. That is
the very nature of the world, it is constituted of
limitations, darkness, ignorance, and every kind of
weakness. The only way to dispel these is to keep the light
burning constantly. There should be no time when the light
is extinguished. The light of devotion to the Divine in the
spiritual heart is constantly burning. The stream of
spiritual consciousness is constantly flowing in the
spiritual individual. It is never broken. The moment you
break it there is again darkness. So, the spiritual
individual sustains himself in an unbroken continuity of
inner awareness of the Divine.
52nd week The
outer nature and the physical body have a tendency to limit
the light of the consciousness, and reduce the human
individual to a complaining, ageing, dying, unfortunate
creature. In
the spiritual heart, the light is not only burning
constantly, but it is growing; it grows and grows until it
becomes one with the light of the infinite divine Sun. Not
merely is the light sustained in the spiritual heart, but it
is constantly promoted in its growth. In this process, the
intensive repetition of the mantra is of immense
value.
The
more the darkness wants to approach the light, the more it
disappears. Ask the darkness of the night to get close to a
candle`s flame. The closer it gets, the more it disappears.
So it is with negative nature too. The darkness of
ignorance, depression and bad news is dispelled by (the
candle of) the spiritual individual.
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Prinyted and published by Omkarananda Ashram Switzerland and Himalayas World Wide Web Edition (WWW) 2001 |
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