From Goal
of Life is God Realization by Swami Sivananda
Yoga is a conscious and sustained attempt towards
self-perfection. The goal of Yoga is to calm the mind so that it may mirror
without distortion the Atman that is behind the mind.
Restrain the senses. Control the mind. Meditate
regularly. Be a Yogi, be a Yogi, be a Yogi. Live the Yogic life and spread the
great doctrine.
You have forgotten to look within, to gaze within, to
introspect, concentrate and meditate, and so you are ignorant, you are lost in
darkness.
Introspect. Look within. Try to remove your defects. This
is the real Sadhana. This is the most difficult Sadhana. You will have to do it
at any cost. Intellectual development is nothing. It is more easy.
Sit at the Central Library, Baroda or Imperial Library,
Calcutta for three to six years with a dictionary by your side. You can develop
your intellect. But removal of defects needs a great deal of struggle for many
years. Many vicious habits will have to be rent asunder.
There are big Mandalesvars (Hindu spiritual head) who can
deliver lectures for a week on one Sloka of the Gita or the Upanishads. They
command respect, and yet they are disliked by the public, because they still
have great defects. They have not done much introspection. They have not done
drastic Sadhana to remove their defects. They have developed only their
intellect. What a great pity!
True religion begins where intellect ends. An impure
heart, a conceited intellect, cannot understand the spirit of religion.
Religion is a manifestation of the eternal glow of the
Spirit within man. The main purpose of religion is the unfoldment of the
divinity within man.
Prayer and meditation are the chief pillars of religion.
A life of selfless service and sacrifice, with regular prayer and meditation,
is the highest religion.
Practice of religion is the practice of righteousness,
goodness, justice, truth, love, and purity. The righteous man is the truly
religious man.
The ringing notes of religion are: Be good. Do good. Be
pure. Be kind. Be compassionate. Serve all. Love all. See God in all.
The practice of these precepts alone will awaken man to
the consciousness of the unity of existence and the realisation of the Divine
Spirit within and without.
Religion is life. Life is sacrifice. One may meticulously
perform religious devotion, and yet be very irreligious at heart and conduct.
Religion should be a living experience in the life of man.
Continue to read:
Goal of Life is God Realization
by Swami Sivananda, Divine Life Society, Sivananda Ashram,
Rishikesh, India
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