Life 49 (Nov 25 - Dec 27)

[winston]

What are the special gifts each human life is endowed with and what is the consummation these must be used for?

Most men spend the lifetime allotted to them or earned by them in the partaking of rich but harmful food and drink and indulge in glamorous but more harmful pastimes. What a pathetic waste of precious stuff!

Though belonging to the animal genus, man has much more than his fellow beings in physical, mental and moral equipment.

He has memory, language, conscience, reverence, awe, wonder and an inexplicable sense of discontent, the precursor of detachment.

He has the glorious chance of visualising his identity with the Mystery that is manifested as this universe. But he is so sunk in ignorance, that he behaves as though he is an animal like the rest and wallows in grief and vice.

It is as if fire has forgotten its capacity to burn or water its nature to wet; man has forgotten his nature to reach out into Divinehood, his capacity to seek and secure the truth of the universe of which he is a part, his capacity to train himself by virtue, justice, love and sympathy to escape from the particular to the universal.

Man can indeed attain the consummation and climax of merging with the unchanging that is behind all this change.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 02, 1966

Uncontrolled living habits, unrestrained social behaviour — these are extolled as signs of freedom. It is only freedom to slide into the animal from which man has risen.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

How should we deal with obstacles on the spiritual path? What do they indicate to us?

While practising sadhana, one must follow the rules laid down in scriptures or follow the commands of the Guru or that of the Divine.

While following these rules or commands, one should not worry whatever obstacles come.

Continue with one’s prescribed sadhana and achieve success, even at the cost of one’s life.

Some people say that they are following His commands but they are facing many obstacles in their sadhana. This is not the correct attitude.

In fact, if one follows His instructions carefully and correctly, no obstacles will come. If obstacles come, it means one has not followed the commands correctly!

Before undertaking sadhana, there are certain things which one should know. Sadhana refers to an activity undertaken for achieving one’s goal or purpose in life.

The sadhaka has to decide what he wants to achieve, what his purpose is. Then sadhana has to be carried on until one achieves that goal.

If one undertakes sadhana without knowing these aspects, one will falter, and face obstacles and problems. Then one may lose faith in the guru, which could result in a total fall and destruction of oneself.

So, one must be very careful about doing sadhana.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 07, 1985

Both enquiry and Sadhana are needed to discover the Divinity latent in you and to manifest it.

Source: radiosai.org