Life 45 (Jan 23 - Aug 23)

[winston]

Mistakes I Made in Searching for Happiness

by Adrian Tan

After graduating, I thought that my aim in life was to collect material wealth. I did not come from a rich family. I grew up in public housing in a single parent household.

Gradually, I realised that money had its limitations. In your journey through life, money will be a good companion. But it cannot be your guide. You cannot consume your way to happiness.

I turned elsewhere. I began collecting knowledge. I read widely. I listened to lectures and debates. I watched films.

Having tried collecting material wealth and collecting knowledge, I turned to collecting relationships. Surely, happiness is found in making connections with fellow human beings.

And then I realised that, in searching for happiness, I had made the biggest mistake of all.

We have no duty to be happy. Happiness is not our purpose. As human beings, we have a larger purpose, which is to serve others.

In each of our lives, we might have a brief moment when we have material comfort, health, knowledge and human connection. And we must seize that moment, not to pursue happiness, but to serve the wider community.

https://lawgazette.com.sg/practice/prac ... happiness/

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The Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc) announced that its president Adrian Tan Gim Hai has passed away at the age of 57 on Jul. 8, 2023.

[behappyalways]

Kids Need The Opportunity To Take Risks, Learn From Mistakes, And Succeed On Their Own
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/kid ... -their-own

[winston]

What are the essential qualifications of a spiritual aspirant?

Man has to progress every moment; a stagnant style of living does not benefit him.

How long can we tolerate a boy staying in the same class at school? He must proceed from one class to the next higher one, year after year.

The spiritual aspirant too should not stagnate in one sadhana (spiritual practice). From the master-servant relationship with the Divine, he must advance to the body-limb relationship and reach the stage of merging in the All-inclusive One - that is to say, from dualism, through conditioned non-dualism, to monism or non-dualism.

In the initial stages, man worships portraits or idols of the Divine, in all the sixteen forms of reverential homage such as preliminary concentration, invocation and so on.

Good character, good conduct and virtuous life, are essential qualifications for the aspirant.
Of course, floral offerings are commendable. The sixteen items are good. But, one should progress from this stage to the awareness of the Atma (Inner-Self).

- Divine Discourse, Oct 06, 1981.

When you claim to be a devotee, justify the claim by cultivating flowers of virtues and offering them to the Divine.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the offering, that the Divine loves the most, from you?

Love for Love's sake; do not manifest it for the sake of material objects or for the fulfillment of worldly desires.

Desire begets anger, anger provokes sin, for under its impact, friends are seen as foes.

Anger is at the bottom of every variety of calamity. Therefore do not fall prey to it.

Treat everyone - whoever he may be - with the all-inclusive compassion of Love. This constructive sympathy has to become the spontaneous reaction of all mankind.

Saturate the breath - while you inhale and while you exhale - with Love. Saturate each moment in Love.

Love knows no fear. Love shuns falsehood. Fear drags man into falsehood, injustice and wrong. Love does not crave praise; that is its strength.

Only those who have no Love in them itch for reward and reputation. The reward for Love is Love itself.

- Divine Discourse, July 29, 1969.

All are born in love, are sustained by love, and live in love. Never forget love; imprint it on your heart.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the secret behind the peace and joy, a true devotee experiences?

The true devotee always dwells in the Divine and has no time to know or feel welfare or worries. Attaining Him is the one and only idea in the mind. It is hard to understand this nature, except by examples.

A small child runs about in fear shouting, “mommy, mommy!”, searching for its missing mother. The mother takes the child in her arms and places it on her lap. The child stops crying and is free from all fear.

But can the child calculate and find out the difference between its previous state and its present relief? No. Nor is it necessary to do so.

Also, the one who seeks always to serve the Divine, will immerse himself in Him when the glorious chance comes. In that Presence, no anxiety or trouble can disturb a person.

Anxiety and trouble pester only until the moment of attainment; then, all attention is diverted to the experience. The past struggle and travails are forgotten.

Therefore, aspirants and devotees must ignore and forget all the thousand troubles that have gone before and be engaged only in the thoughts of the Divine.

- Ch 8, Prasanthi Vahini.

Human birth is meant to experience divinity and not to crave for fleeting pleasures.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Even though we are essentially divine, why is it important to ensure the sacredness of our thoughts and feelings?

Until you become aware of your own Divinity, so long as you are conscious of your distinct individuality, till you feel you are you and the Divine is the Divine, you cannot but struggle with some attitudes and objectives. This is the Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant's) stage.

In this stage, you must endeavour to equip yourself with the qualities of Love, Sympathy and Compassion. For, without these, Yoga and Jnana (Wisdom) cannot be secured.

Love is vital. Love is Divine. To render an act fit to be offered to the Divine and pure enough to win His Grace, it has to be a manifestation of Love. The brighter the manifestation, the nearer you are to Him.

Love is not affected or modified by considerations of caste or creed, or religion; it cannot be tarnished by envy, malice or hate.

Preserve Love from being poisoned by these evils; endeavour to cultivate hatred-less and distinction-free feelings.

- Divine Discourse, July 29, 1969.

The Divine is in you, with you, around you, above you, and below you. However, you cannot realise this truth unless you give up negative feelings.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What can we do to be happy, live peacefully and also contribute to world peace?

If one escapes only from the responsibilities of life in society, peace cannot be enjoyed; it will never come. But, if desires are controlled and eliminated, there is no need at all to run away.

Content with what one has, refusing to be worried by the absence of things that one hasn’t, and trying as far as possible to reduce and eliminate desires and passions and hatreds, one should strive to cultivate truth, righteousness, love, and patience.

Cultivate them, and at the same time, practise them systematically. This is the real duty of humanity, the real purpose of human birth.

If the above-mentioned four qualities are cultivated and practised by each, there will be no envy between people, selfish grabbing will cease, the interests of others will be respected, and world peace can be stabilised!

- Ch 15, Prasanthi Vahini.

Renunciation is to be able to consider sorrow and joy with the same vision.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the grace we must secure to escape from the cycle of birth and death?

The Scriptures deserve to be read and heard. The Divine’s name is to be recited and listened to. For some ailments, medicines are prescribed for external application while for others, they are given for internal use.

But for this universal ailment of the cycle of birth and death, listening to spiritual discourses, singing the Divine’s name and other medicines are prescribed for external and internal use. One has to utter as well as hear His name.

An aspirant might win His grace, the guru’s grace and the grace of devotees of the Divine but all this grace is of no avail, if another grace is not secured, the grace of their own inner consciousness. Without this grace, the aspirant falls into perdition, for all the rest are of no account whatsoever.

- Ch 21, Prema Vahini.

In the pursuit of the spiritual path, first of all the mind should be brought under control.

Source: radiosai.org

[behappyalways]

Don't be the adult you hated as a child! "Big Children and Little People" evokes the childhood self

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-BLTlHeHWm0

[winston]

How can we express the divine potency that is latent within us?

While the current is without any form, a bulb, a fan or an electric stove has a definite form. In each appliance, it does have a different function. If you say, “Oh current, how helpful you have been to me!” and touch it, you get a shock.

Current has that energy and hence, it is a form of the Cosmic Divine. This is also illustrated in the story of the man who could reduce anything to ashes through the power he had acquired from the Divine by penance.

This inner energy expresses itself in the form of knowledge. Knowledge has to be transformed into skill, to achieve balance in life. But people today are killing this knowledge, thereby losing their balance.

By losing balance in their lives, they acquire only outward vision and do not cultivate inner vision or insight. When your outlook is projected outwards, your mind starts wavering.

You should maintain balance in life. It is possible only when you transform your knowledge into skill.

- Divine Discourse, Nov 22, 2000.

It is your duty to recognise all men as your kin and to share your skill with others, so that the maximum benefits accrue therefrom.

Source: radiosai.org