“Swamiji, I am puzzled. Following your instruction, suppose I never asked for food, and nobody gives me any. I should starve to death.”
“Die then!” This alarming counsel split the air. “Die if you must Mukunda! Never believe that you live by the power of food and not by the power of God! He who has created every form of nourishment, He who has bestowed appetite, will certainly see that His devotee is sustained! Do not imagine that rice maintains you, or that money or men support you! Could they aid if the Lord withdraws your life-breath? They are His indirect instruments merely. Is it by any skill of yours that food digests in your stomach? Use the sword of your discrimination, Mukunda! Cut through the chains of agency and perceive the Single Cause!”
Autobiography of a yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda
On will power
- Unavoidable are the hardships and misfortunes, trials and tribulations, sorrows and sufferings in life. To endure and to bear them patiently and bravely is to conquer them.
- Develop the courage to act according to your convictions, to speak what is true and to do what is right.
- Man has the spark of divinity within him, and he can elevate himself to the greatest height of moral superiority.
B.S. Surti, Thus Spake Zarathushtra
On Prayer
A noble thought is a prayer.
An earnest desire is a prayer. A pious longing is a prayer. The sincere sighing of a penitent heart is a prayer.
B.S. Surti, Thus Spake Zarathushtra
On transgressions and sins
Harass not the tiny ant which labours to carry a grain for its survival, for it has life and life is sweet indeed.
B.S. Surti, Thus Spake Zarathushtra
Karma Yoga
Before we talk about failure, first we have to know what is success. If people have the wrong definition of success, then they will also have the wrong definition of failure. According to spiritualists, success is not in the result. Success is not in the achievement. Success is not what you get at the end. That’s not what defines success according to spiritual teaching.
Success is in your endeavor, your intention, your effort, the character that goes behind the noble thing that you’re trying to do and once you’ve invested all of those things whatever the result may be is actually inconsequential. It is already a success because in reality none of us are in control of the result. There are other factors in the universe beyond our control which are affecting the results that we gain. So, therefore, if you try to measure success by results, not only will you feel a failure but you’ll also be inhibited of even going on the journey for fear of failure. But when you understand that success is in the effort, the goal of life is not to be the best, the goal of life is to try your best; and in trying your best if it is destiny’s plan for you to be the best for the purpose of service and making the world a better place, then so be it. And if destiny for your plan is not for you to be the best, it doesn’t matter you’re still a success.
In the Bhagavad Gita, this is known as karma yoga or the art of working, the art of detached work and this is one of the most powerful things that people can use in their life. Because, in this world people are so stressed, people are so deflated, demoralized and depressed because they measure success in the wrong way. When we measure success in the wrong way, we fall to the cancers of the mind competing with others comparing with others but you’re on your own journey and you only need to do your best.
Keshava Swami