Power

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POWER

 

by Swami Sivananda

 

Aspire Fervently

 

Give up thirsting for sensual objects. Cling fast to the faith in the

Divinity. Aspire fervently and constantly. You will have pure mind.

Never hurt a man in thought, word or deed. Always do good and kind

acts. Purge yourself of all miseries and sorrows. Merge in calmness

and silence. You will attain supreme peace and eternal happiness.

 

Destroy the tossing of the mind through Viveka, constant meditation

and ceaseless Brahma Vichara (Atmic enquiry). Direct your attention

to selfless service and worship of the Lord. You will attain supreme

joy.

 

Stick To Your Principles

 

Follow the Truth always. Strive for it ever in thought, word and

deed. Be compassionate. Be bold. Resign yourself to the Lord. There

is no room for lamentation and despair.

 

Stick tenaciously to your principles and ideals. `Do your duty

without looking to the fruits or consequences of your actions and God

will be with you. Become dispassionate. Learn to discriminate. Know

thyself and be free from attachment. You will go beyond " Time "

and " Death. "

 

Be Fiery In Your Determination

 

Be always cheerful and smile away your worries. Follow the correct

principles of living. Be temperate in eating, drinking, sleeping,

amusements and in all other things. Cultivate a very strong faith in

God.

 

Silence the surging emotions and bubbling thoughts. Do not be carried

away by the temptations of the world. Be careful. Be wise. Get away

from the company of worldly-minded persons. Put your heart, mind,

intellect and soul even in your smallest act. Always act with faith

and determination. Be firm in your resolve and fiery in your

determination.

 

Be Firm In Your Vows

 

Do your duties properly. Be firm in your vows and true in speech.

Possess good character. Be kind to all. Conquer wrath. Become master

of self. Get rid of envy. You will soon attain God-realisation.

 

Take refuge in the Name of the Lord. Do not think very often of your

defects and weaknesses. Aspire fervently. Grow in spirituality. You

will attain Divinity.

 

Meditate on the glory and splendour of the Supreme Being who

illumines everything, who is indivisible, the Existence-Knowledge-

Bliss-Absolute. You will attain the Supreme.

 

Never Despair

 

You have got Svatantrya in action. You can do your Karma in any way

you like. You can become a Yogi or Jnani by right thinking and right

action. Man is not a helpless being. He has a free will of his own.

Therefore overcome all your unfavourable circumstances. Have courage.

Be bold. Never despair. You will succeed. There is nothing in the

world which cannot be achieved by a man by the right sort of efforts.

 

Wake up now. Open your eyes. Become a virtuous man. Do good actions.

Sing Hari's name. Have constant Satsanga. All evil habits will be

eradicated. Purify. Concentrate. Meditate. You will realise the goal.

 

As You Think, So You Become

 

" As a man thinketh, so he becometh " is one of the greatest laws of

nature. Think you are pure, pure you will become. Think that you are

a man, man you will become. Think you are Brahman, Brahman you will

become. Become an embodiment of good nature. Do always good actions.

Serve. Love. Give. Observe Brahmacharya and Mouna. Control anger.

Make others happy. Live to serve others. Then only will you enjoy

happiness.

 

Draw Strength From Within

 

Do not allow the mind to go its own way altogether. Keep your Prana

and senses under your control, and bring the mind under your control

with the help of the intellect strengthened by Sattva.

 

Be slow to make a promise but be quick to carry it out. Cultivate an

amiable, loving nature and adaptability. Be courageous. Never

despair. Draw strength from within. Feel the divine presence

everywhere. Dive deep into the Divine source. You will realise the

infinite bliss.

 

Conquest Of Nature

 

To live is to fight for the ideal and goal. Life is a series of

awakenings. Conquer the mind and the senses. These are your real

enemies. Live under lifelong vows. Conquer your internal and external

nature. Fight against the dark antagonistic evil forces, through Japa

and meditation. Soar high always in the realms of higher spiritual

knowledge. Show your manliness and spiritual strength now.

 

This World Is A Great School

 

This world is a great school. It is for thy education. Be wise. Be in

the spirit of Yoga. Utilise all opportunities to the best possible

advantage. There is no such thing as bad. Your capacities and will-

power will develop. You will receive more of Divine Light, Knowledge,

Purity, Peace and Spiritual strength.

 

Smile with the flowers and the green grass. Shake hands with the

shrubs, ferns and twigs. Develop friendship with all neighbours,

dogs, cats, cows, human beings, trees, in fact, with all nature's

creations. You will have a perfect and rich life.

 

Open your eyes now. Wake up from your deep slumber and profound

inertia. Regain the lost divinity. Thou art Divine. Thou art Atman.

Realise this and be free.

 

The World Is Your Body

 

Actions produce Samskaras or impressions or potencies. The

impressions coalesce together through repetition and form tendencies.

Tendencies develop into habits and character. The sum total of the

tendencies of a man is his character. Character generates Will.

Therefore, if the character is pure and strong the Will also will be

pure and strong and vice versa.

 

Therefore sow the seed of good habits at once. It will grow

gradually. It will assert itself to gain a seat in the body and mind,

and work by itself till it gets sanguine success. All the old morbid

habits will be destroyed. Feel that the whole world is your own home

or body. Feel that God dwells in all creatures of this

universe. " Isavasyamidam sarvam. " You will attain the Supreme.

 

Understand The Secret Of Karma-Yoga

 

Look at the stupendous and magnanimous work turned out by Lord

Buddha, Sri Sankara and other Karma Yogins of yore. Their names are

handed down from posterity to posterity. Their names are still

remembered. The whole world worships them with reverence. Can you

attribute an iota or grain of selfish motive to their actions? They

lived for doing service to others. They had absolute self-abnegation.

 

Work cannot bring misery. It is the attachment and identification to

work that brings in all sorts of worries, troubles and unhappiness.

Understand the secret of Karma Yoga and work without attachment and

identification. You will soon attain God-consciousness. This is

Jnana. This is Jnanagni (fire of wisdom) which burns all fruits of

actions.

 

Karma Yoga Gives Joy

 

Do you expect anything from your small son, if you do him something?

In a similar manner you will have to work for others also without

expecting anything. You will have to expand and think that this whole

world is your own Self.

 

It gives you a little pain in the beginning, because you have never

worked up to this time in this line of selfless and disinterested

service. When you have tasted a bit of the Bliss of selfless service,

you can never leave it. The force of service will induce you to work

more with great zeal and enthusiasm.

 

You will begin to feel that this whole world is manifestation of God.

You will gain immense inner strength and purity of heart. Your heart

will be filled with sympathy, mercy and pure love. Your spirit of

selfless service and self-sacrifice will grow ad infinitum.

 

Karma Yoga Leads To Knowledge

 

Work is worship. Work is meditation. Serve everyone with intense

love, without any idea of agency, without expectation of fruits of

reward. You will realise God. Service of humanity is service of God.

 

" The Lord dwelleth in the hearts of all beings O Arjuna, by His

illusive power, causing all beings to revolve as though mounted on a

potter's wheel. " (Gita.XVIII-61).

 

The spirit of service must deeply enter into your very bones, cells,

tissues, nerves, etc. The reward is invaluable. Practise and feel the

cosmic expansion and Infinite Ananda (Bliss). Evince intense zeal and

enthusiasm in work. Be fiery in the spirit of service.

 

A Karma Yogi Is Very Near To God

 

A Karma Yogi says: " Do all works without expectation of fruits. This

will produce Chitta Suddhi. Then you will get knowledge of the Self.

You will get Moksha or Eternal Bliss and Immortality. " This is his

doctrine.

 

You will get purity of mind if you work in the spirit of the above

doctrine. This is a very great reward for your actions. You cannot

imagine the exalted conditions of a man of pure mind. He has

unbounded peace, strength and joy. He is very near to God. He is dear

to God. He will soon receive the Divine Light.

 

Work without any sort of motive and feel its effects, purity and

inner strength. What an expanded heart you will have! Indescribable!

Practise, feel and enjoy this state.

 

Karma Yoga Is The Best Yoga

 

Even if you do a little service to the country or to the society or

to the poor sick people, it has got its own advantages and benefits.

It purifies your heart and prepares the Antahkarana for the reception

of the Knowledge of Atman.

 

The Samskaras or impressions of these good actions are embedded in

your subconscious mind. The forces of these Samskaras will again

propel you to do some more good actions. Sympathy, love, the spirit

of patriotism and service will be developed.

 

Feel Oneness With All

 

Serve any Society, Ashram, Mutt, or religious institution for 2 hours

daily in any way you like with Nishkama Bhava. This will purify your

heart. Remember that God is the foundation of the Society. Remember

that the whole world is the manifestation of the Lord (Virat Rupa).

Earth is Hari. Milk is Hari. Tree is Hari. If you serve with Narayana

or Atma Bhava, you will have a changed angle of vision. You will have

heaven on earth.

 

Keep the mind fully occupied. Get rid of all mental weaknesses. Do

not allow the Indriyas to run riot. Be ever vigilant and diligent.

Hate lust but not the woman. Hear the Divine whisper in silence. You

will enjoy the transcendental life.

 

Expand, Evolve

 

Convert all activities into Yoga. Walk in the path of righteousness.

Wake up from the slumber of ignorance. Do not mix with undesirable

persons. Take recourse to Sattvic company. You will have much peace.

 

Expand. Evolve. Have a large heart. Mix with all. Be humble. Take

refuge in God. All torment will disappear. You will enjoy supreme

Peace.

 

Scrutinise Your Motives

 

Work unselfishly with a disinterested spirit. Scrutinise your

motives. Your motive should be absolutely pure. Never care for

fruits. But do not become a victim of sloth or inertia. Pour forth

all your energies in the service of humanity, country, etc. Plunge

yourself into selfless service.

 

The manual work will become automatic, mechanical or instinctive. You

will have two minds. A portion of the mind will be in meditation and

Japa. Repeat the name of the Lord while at work also. Ashtavadhanis

do eight things at a time. This is a question of training of the

mind. You can train the mind in such a way that it can work with the

hand and can remember God at the same time. This is Karma Yoga and

Bhakti Yoga combined. This is the best Yoga.

 

Keep Spiritual Diary

 

Develop Sattvic virtues. Conserve energy. Keep your body strong and

healthy by regular exercise. Keep a true diary with a clean

conscience daily. Develop attention. Become a Spiritual Hero.

 

Always think rightly and act rightly. Never envy your neighbours.

Entertain noble and sublime thoughts. Have supreme self-confidence

and courage. Whatever you do, do with a will to succeed in your

attempts. This is the Sovereign secret.

 

Remember saints and sages. Draw inspiration from their teachings.

Tread the path of love. Drink freely the honey of devotion. Commune

with God and reach the eternal abode of God-consciousness.

 

Practise Sadhana Now

 

This is the time when you should spend your time happily by doing

regular Japa and meditation. God has given you all conveniences and

opportunities. Remember Him and thank Him always.

 

Sing His glories. Hold Sankirtan at night with all the members of the

family. Be bold. Be cheerful. Be calm. Be contented. Be good. Do

good. Be pure. Be alert. Become a Jivanmukta in this very birth.

 

Do Constant Sadhana

 

Keep your mind always busy in doing Japa, concentration, meditation,

study of religious books, Satsanga or in doing something useful.

 

Regularity in Sadhana is of paramount importance. Remember this point

always.

 

May you lead a contented and happy life singing the Lord's Name at

all times by doing selfless service, sharing what you have with

others and by regular Japa and meditation.

 

Be Regular In Your Sadhana

 

Keep a balanced mind always. Be cheerful and happy. Drive the

feelings of depression and gloom at once by enquiry, singing Divine

songs, prayers, chanting of Om, Pranayama, a brisk walk in the open

air and thinking of the opposite quality viz., the feeling of joy.

You will be happy.

 

Apply yourself diligently to Yoga. Employ your skill and promptness.

Kill the thoughts and desires. Do not become a fatalist. Stand like a

lion. Exert. Aspire. You will attain independence.

 

Steady the mind. Fix it on the Lord. Plod on patiently like the

farmer at his plough. Be persevering. This is real Sadhana. Be

regular in your Sadhana. This will give you freedom, bliss, peace and

immortality.

 

Be Strong Through Love

 

Be regular in your spiritual Sadhana. Regularity is of paramount

importance. Love all. Embrace all. Behold the Self in all. Develop

cosmic love. Grow spiritually strong day by day. Attain liberation.

Enjoy bliss of the Self and be free.

 

May you all be happy! May you all be free from disease! May you

realise what is good! May you abide in the Lord for ever!

 

Sadhana And Santosh - The Secrets Of Health

 

The best medicine or panacea for all diseases and for keeping good

health is Kirtan, Japa and regular meditation. The Divine waves

electrify, rejuvenate, vivify, energise the cells, tissues, nerves,

etc.

 

Another cheap but potent drug is to keep oneself always joyful and

cheerful. Study Gita daily one or two chapters with meaning. Keep

yourself fully occupied, which is a remedy to keep off thoughts of

worldliness.

 

Equip With The Four Means

 

Stand firm on the rock of Truth or Brahman. Have a firm grip of the

reality, the self-luminous, immortal Atman or Soul. Equip yourself

with the four means.

 

Try to do daily as many virtuous actions as possible. Repeat mentally

or silently or with the breath, the name of the Lord such as Hari Om,

Sri Ram or your Ishta Mantra. Performance of virtuous actions is the

beginning of spiritual life.

 

Lead a simple natural life with high sublime thinking. Develop

ethical virtues, control the Indriyas and mind, practise meditation,

realise the Self and be free for ever.

 

Be Self-Controlled

 

Spiritual life is not an idle talk. It is actual living in the Atman.

It is a transcendental experience of unalloyed bliss. It is a life of

fullness and perfection.

 

Be self-controlled. Be just. Know the right. Keep your promise. Be

noble and impartial. Be like the ocean in depth of devotion, like the

Himavan in firmness.

 

Cultivate peace in the garden of your heart by removing the weeds of

lust, hatred, greed, selfishness and jealousy. Know and feel always

that you are the all-pervading, immortal consciousness, the undying

eternal Atman.

 

Rely On Your Own Self

 

Be courageous, candid and modest. Respect your superiors. Be ever

vigilant. Have perfect control over anger. Become the source of all

good. Act according to the words of sages and saints. Rely on your

own Self. Endure suffering patiently. Be patient. Persevere. Help is

bound to come.

 

Be devoted to God. Purify the mind. Sit in a solitary place for some

hours daily. Withdraw all the senses from their objects. Bring the

mind under control. Turn it towards God. The Divine grace will

descend upon you.

 

Conquer Nature

 

Entertain holy desires. You will shine in Divine glory. You will be

placed in holy surroundings as Uttarakashi, Himalayas, Prayag, etc.,

where you can perform Tapas, Sadhana and meditation amidst holy

persons and can have Self-realisation.

 

Under the security of the changeless law of cause and effect, a man

can serenely proceed to achieve any thing he desires to accomplish.

Therefore entertain Divine thoughts. You are sure to succeed in your

well-directed efforts. In nature nothing is lost. Again as Bacon

said: `Nature is conquered by obedience.'

 

Acquire Vairagya

 

Do not think any more of your worldly concerns than is necessary to

determine your duty. Do your duty and leave the rest to. God. Have

your ideal, mottoes and principles. Adhere to them strongly and

steadily. Do not deviate from your ideals and principles even a

fraction of an inch.

 

Remember the goal and the purpose for which you have taken this

physical body. Watch the mind. Watch the Vrittis or thoughts. Drive

them. Acquire mental Vairagya, mental Sannyasa.

 

Faith Is Life

 

Cultivate a very strong faith in God. Faith is the gateway to God.

Faith can work wonders. Always act with faith and determination. Be

firm in your resolve and fiery in your determination.

 

Remember the saints and sages. Do prayer, Japa, Kirtan regularly.

Have contact with your Guru. Read religious books like Gita, Ramayana

and Bhagavatam. These will sow the seed of faith and increase it till

it becomes quite firm and unshakable.

 

No Faith, No Jnana

 

The goal of life is God-realisation. Life is faith and illumination.

Faith is an important qualification for an aspirant. No faith, no

devotion. No faith, no Jnana.

 

Bad company, lust, greed, infatuated love for wife, son and property

and unwholesome food are the enemies of faith. Take bland, light,

substantial food.

 

Meditate. Realise Him intuitively this very second and enjoy the

Bliss of the Self.

 

Know Him In Essence

 

Lord Hari manifested in the form of Lord Krishna and Rama for the

protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers and for the

sake of firmly establishing righteousness. Lord Krishna says: " The

foolish disregard Me when clad in human semblance ignorant of My

Supreme Nature, the great Lord of all beings. "

 

Do not be carried away by the turbulent senses and the influence of

the Mayaic forces. By devotion and faith know Him in essence and

through His grace attain Supreme Bliss, Supreme Peace and Supreme

Knowledge.

 

Meditate And Get Strength

 

Conserve every bit of energy within. Do not waste the time and energy

by entering into hot discussions, lingual warfare and intellectual

gymnastics. Give up arguing and discussions entirely. You will

progress in the spiritual path.

 

Expel delusion and cultivate devotion unto Siva, the Lord of Lords,

the Deva of Devas, the Yogi of Yogis.

 

If you meditate for half an hour, you will be able to face the daily

battle of life with peace and spiritual strength for one week through

the force of meditation. Such is the beneficial effect of meditation.

As you have to move with different minds of peculiar-nature, get the

requisite strength and peace from meditation and be free from worry

and trouble.

 

Annihilate Ajnana

 

Lead a life of austerity and meditation. Come out of your small

narrow egoistic circle and have a broad vision. Beware of bad

company. Even a sober man begins to drink in the company of

drunkards.

 

Be patient in difficulties, danger, troubles. Stand adamant and

overcome obstacles. Have a burning desire for liberation. Annihilate

Ajnana through Satsanga, Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana.

 

Master your emotions, impulses. Be strong in your determination. Be

firm in your resolution. You will get success in every walk of life.

 

Practise The Three Kinds Of Tapas

 

Practise Ahimsa and Brahmacharya in thought, word and deed. Practise

Saucha and Arjava (straight forwardness). Try to keep up balanced

mind. Be cheerful always. Keep up Shuddha Bhava. Try these three

kinds of Tapas (physical, verbal and mental) and control your

actions.

 

Be careful in your speeches. Speak little. Speak sweet loving words.

Never utter any word of harshness that can affect the feelings of

others. Try to speak the truth. Thus put a check on the Vak Indriya

and the impulses of speech.

 

Kill the evil thought with the sword of Viveka when it tries to enter

the fort of the mind. Thus you can build a noble character.

 

Drink The Nectar

 

Purify your mind. Withdraw all the senses from their objects. Bring

the mind under your control. Introspect. Direct your attention

towards the knowledge of God.

 

Become a true Brahmachari. Get established in mental and physical

Brahmacharya. Take Sattvic food. Develop Vairagya. Have perfect faith

in God.

 

Put on the armour of discrimination. Wear the shield of dispassion.

Blow the conch of courage. Kill the enemies of doubt, ignorance,

passion and egoism and enter the illimitable kingdom of the blissful

Brahman. Drink the Nectar of immortality.

 

Immortality Is Thy Birthright

 

Courage, power, strength, wisdom and joy are your Divine heritage,

your birthright from the Absolute. You are the centre of thought,

influence and power. Never forget this.

 

The world is assailed by death. Days and nights are falling

incessantly like bolts. When one day passes away, remember that a

part of one's life wears away with it.

 

Apply yourself diligently to Yoga. Remember the Sages and Saints. Be

sincere. Develop mercy, love, friendship, feeling of brotherhood. You

will become one with all. You will see God in every face. You will

enjoy the unalloyed Bliss.

 

Forget Not Thy Goal

 

Try your best to keep cool and calm in difficulties, adversities and

trying conditions of life. Pray fervently from the bottom of your

heart and wait. Help is bound to come. Have firm, perfect and one-

pointed faith in God.

 

Develop universal sympathy and cosmic love of pure nature. Lead a

life of oneness and unity. Have deep concentrated right thinking.

 

Forget not the goal. Everyday place a step further towards the goal.

Maya will assume various forms. Watch, pray, conquer obstacles.

 

Awake, Achieve The Goal

 

Remember the goal and the purpose for which you have taken this

physical body. Do not give indulgence or leniency to the mind. Watch

the Vrittis or thoughts. Drive them. Just as the soldier kills his

enemies with his sword when they enter the fort, take the rod of

Viveka when the mind raises its hood or Vritti and strike

indiscriminately. Annihilate the thoughts.

 

Goal Of Life Is God-Realisation

 

The goal of life is God-realisation. All desires are gratified by

realising God. God can be realised by pure, subtle reasoning. There

is not an iota of happiness in objects, because they are insentient.

There are mental uneasiness, discontentment and restlessness even in

multi-millionaires and kings.

 

All sorts of fears, miseries and troubles will melt away when the

knowledge of God dawns. You will be freed from the Samsaric wheel of

births and deaths with all its concomitant evils. Form a strong habit

of remembering God at all times. Control the senses. Be balanced in

pleasure and pain, heat and cold, praise and censure. Have unshakable

faith and unflinching devotion towards God.

 

Live In The Present

 

Do not think of the past, nor plan for the future. Live in the

present. Believe in the glory of the Self. Regard all alike. Help the

Self in all.

 

Tear into pieces the veil of ignorance. Catch the fickle deer mind

with the snare of enquiry and Brahma Chintana. Ride the elephant of

Self-knowledge and reach the highest peak of Supreme Wisdom of the

Self.

 

Melt all illusory differences. Remove all barriers that separate man

from man. Mix with all. Destroy the sex-idea by constantly thinking

on the Self or the sexless and bodiless Atman.

 

(Source: http://sivanandaonline.org/html/)