Sunday, July 12, 2015
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“I will tell you a secret. You may not fully understand its meaning now, but in time its truth will dawn on you. And this truth is that every man’s will and mind lead him progressively toward good. Some are led along thorny paths and some are led along smooth paths, but all reach the same goal.”
An inspiring assurance, since the goal is Self-realization — liberation from all bondage! Brahmananda also insisted that we can accelerate the process by our own efforts, by our spiritual practice.
Swami Shivananda, another of Ramakrishna’s direct disciples, said: “All that one has to do is establish God in one’s heart by any means. Then, one need make no separate effort to build up a moral character. All such divine qualities as truthfulness, kindness, love, etc., then come to one as a matter of course.”
Shivananda was echoing Sri Krishna’s promise: “Though a man be soiled with the sins of a lifetime, let him but love me, rightly resolved, in utter devotion: I see no sinner, that man is holy. Holiness soon shall refashion his nature to peace eternal; O (Arjuna), of this be certain: The man that loves me, he shall not perish.” (Bhagavad Gita, Ch. 9)
In this talk, Br. Shankara points to evidence of spiritual progress in your life, and explore how the principles and practices of Raja Yoga can be the means to “establish God in (your) heart.”