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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com)

 

Birth as a human being, a great blessing

 

CHENNAI, SEPT. 1. When a person embarks on the spiritual path it

is important to follow certain basic practices so that he will be

able to integrate all his actions towards the goal of liberation.

One such spiritual practice is the habit of waking up every

morning with a thought for the day. This will serve as a reminder

during the course of the day to re-orient oneself to the

spiritual goal. This thought can be a simple one like, ``Human

birth is rare; it does not happen again and again.'' By reminding

oneself about this wonderful opportunity that has been given,

there will not be any room for wasting even a moment in frivolous

pursuits.

 

The gift of human birth is one of the three blessings of life

according to the great philosopher-saint Adi Sankara. There are

innumerable life forms in the creation but only a chosen few are

born as humans. But, the majority lead an animal existence and

are asleep to the reality of human nature. We are like

somnambulists, going about our daily lives mechanically until we

chance upon a saint who tells us, ``Awake! awake! awake! how long

will you be in a state of slumber?'' The second blessing of human

life is when the desire for liberation from bondage takes root in

a person after he wakes up to the fact of his spiritual nature.

 

In his discourse, Dada J. P. Vaswani said the third gift was to

come under the grace of a saint and evolve spiritually under his

guidance. Devotion to one's duty is of primary importance because

the world is a stage wherein every individual has a role to play,

however minor or insignificant it may be. If we try to do the

duty of another we will spoil this great play of God. When a

person performs his duty diligently he will realise that he

belongs to the larger family of humanity and try to serve others

as much as he can. An easy spiritual practice is to resolve to

do one good turn everyday. If he does not do so then he must

repent to the extent that he does not deserve to sleep that night

peacefully. Even a comforting word to one in distress or a smile

is a form of service.

 

Practice of silence for sometime daily is another spiritual

practice which is essential. Just as we wash the clothes which

become soiled by dirt with water, the mind must also be cleansed

of the impurities which impinge on it in the form of noise and

other sensory inputs, by the waters of silence so that it does

not clog the soul. Prayer and chanting the Divine names are the

means to stay tuned to God. All these exercises will help to

accept everything in life in the proper perspective.

 

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