THOUGHT FOR THE DAY ... MARCH 2011

[V2K]

1st March 2011

Anyone who is intent on following the spiritual path or meditation must take every care that these ten enemies do not even approach them. (Tenfold sins: 3 physical, 4 verbal, and 3 mental. The physical sins are: injury to life, adulterous desire, and theft. The verbal sins are: false alarms, cruel speech, jealous talk, and lies. The mental sins are: greed, envy, and denial of God). These sins have to be eschewed completely. Instead, you need tendencies that will help you progress and not drag you back. You must speak and act only good (Shubha), for good alone is auspicious (Mangala) and the auspicious alone is Shiva. This is what the scriptures (Shastras) teach. The good is the auspicious. The auspicious is the spiritually helpful. Thus being good is the true instrument that aids in merging with Lord Shiva.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

2nd March 2011 Maha Shivarathri

We have spent so many nights ever since we were born, but not all those nights can be termed Shivarathri. Since this night is spent in meditation and singing the Glory of the Divine Name of Lord Shiva, it is called Shivarathri. Not only this night, but also whenever you spend an entire night meditating upon the Divine Name, that night is also called Shivarathri. Always attach yourself to the Divine Name. Always meditate on the Divine Name. Not just contemplation, but Meditation with love for God. Your love for God should be continuous through the day and night and should never undergo a change.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

3rd March 2011

Each electric bulb has a separate wattage, and the wattage remains for a limited period of a time. Avatars are like these electric bulbs. Over a period, God has incarnated as several Avatars. You must be attached, NOT to the physical form of a particular Avatar, but to DIVINITY as the Supreme Parabrahma beyond form and attributes, which has manifested many times in many ages. Though you were born as a baby, you grow up as a child, youth, and become an elderly person; you are the same individual in all the different stages. You must, therefore, constantly meditate upon the Divine, which is true and eternal.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

4th March 2011

All religious fanaticism and fights will vanish, as soon as you grasp the Reality. Faith in God is based on genuine experience. Once we accept this, introspection starts and one is able to measure how far one has journeyed towards the goal or away from it. One will then realize that one is groping in the dark and dragging others into darkness as well. Only then will men give up factional hatred in the name of religious war on those professing different faiths. Those who revel in religious wars should be asked, “Have you seen God? Have you become aware of the Divine Atma? If not, what authority do you have to decry or deny this name of God? Are you, struggling in the darkness, attempting to draw me too into that darkness? Can a blind man lead another blind man along the road? That is an impossible task. Therefore, understand your Truth before you defame or deny mine.”
     
- BABA

[V2K]

5th March 2011

There are three stages of Sadhana (spiritual practice). They are concentration, contemplation and meditation. When you fix your gaze on one form, it is concentration. When this form physically moves away after sometime, you still look at this form with your mental eye. That is contemplation. As a result of this exercise, this form gets imprinted in your heart permanently. That is meditation. If you go on meditating thus, the form remains in your heart permanently. You should not confine your spiritual practices to concentration and contemplation only. While it is true that these are the first steps in your spiritual practices, you must progress further. You must transform concentration to contemplation and later into meditation. When you transform thus, you will continue to visualize the form of God at all times. The ancient Rishis (seers) adopted this form of meditation. That is why God manifested before them whenever they wished, talked to them and fulfilled their desires.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

6th March 2011

Welfare is the fruit of knowledge; malevolence is the fruit of ignorance. Through welfare alone can peace, joy, and progress be attained. One’s very basic duty is to strive for the welfare of all beings. Promoting it and contributing to it is the right task. Living out one’s span of life in discharging this task is the ordained path.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

8th March 2011

Be unaffected by illusion (Maya). The intellect (Buddhi) in us is the witness of all things in this objective world. These worldly things limit and colour the intellect; they affect it and mould it into consciousness (Chaithanya). Illusion is only the intellect as affected by everything, as warped and twisted by the impressions of everything. Therefore, the spiritual consciousness that is unaffected by illusion — i.e. upon which the world has failed to produce any impression - is the Lord (Iswara). Therefore, the person who is striving to reach the stage of the Lord must be unaffected by illusion, unimpressed by the world! How can one remain unaffected? Through analysis, rationalization, fearless inquiry, and pure reason. To acquire this analytical reason (Viveka), sharing in the task of promoting the welfare of every being in nature is essential.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

9th March 2011

The fleeting show of the world (Jagath) is based on illusions (Maya). That is why it is branded as false. But do not conclude that mere recognition of the falsity of the world or awareness that one has certain shortcomings will lead one on the higher path and take one to the highest truth. Without a good character full of sterling qualities, one can never achieve progress in the spiritual field. Progress depends on the worth and quality of the individual, just as the harvest depends on the fertility of the field. Upon such a worthy piece of land, sow the seeds of sterling qualities and irrigate with the waters of reason and analysis; the plentiful harvest will be ready in due time! On lands where the seedlings of good qualities are not planted and tended, useless weeds multiply; and where orderly gardens could have been cultivated, thorny bushes create a jungle of impenetrable confusions.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

10th March 2011

Doubts may arise in your minds when you hear the story of creation and the early history of man on earth. The processes of the Divine Will are mysterious wonders. They cannot be grasped by the faculties with which you measure earthly events. Often, they may strike you as devoid of any basis, but the Lord will never involve Himself in any deed without a proper cause. That Will need not be explicable. It is its own prompter. Everything everywhere is due to His Will.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

11th March 2011

Even if a person through perversity or blind conceit has thus far not cultivated good qualities, the person can at least make a try or make efforts to secure them! If this is not done, the excellence of life cannot be tasted and life is a waste; its worth is nil. The mind, by sheer force of negative forces, gets lost in false values and is unable to develop along the right lines. Such a mind, turned away from good, might cause indescribable evil. All progress won by the Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) might be destroyed by such a mind in an unguarded moment, like a spark falling on a keg of gun powder because of a moment’s negligence!
     
- BABA

[V2K]

12th March 2011

There is only One; it is described by the learned ones in myriad ways. The same thing is seen and experienced in different ways by different people, according to the angle of vision and the level of intelligence and awareness. Different persons describe the same thing differently. How can anyone declare that they should not do so? Or that what they describe is wrong? No one has the right to disparage or deny. Only those who strive to rise above the here and now and become aware of the Transcendental Principle of Godhead deserve to be called true devotees. Those who revel in hurting others do not justify to be called devotees.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

14th March 2011

Imitation is a sign of cowardice, not a quality that can ensure progress. How can you draw inspiration for uplifting yourself if you are engaged in hating yourself and devaluing your achievements? You should feel no sense of shame when you bring back to memory your forefathers and the teachers of the past who built the culture that nurtured you. Instead, you ought to feel proud of them. Like them, manifest the power that lies in self-exertion! Do not resort to the weak stratagem of imitating others. Instead absorb the good qualities that others may possess. We plant a seed in the soil. Then we supply it with the ingredients it needs—water, air, and manure. The seed sprouts. It grows into a sapling. It becomes at last a huge tree. You will notice that it does not become either soil or manure, or air or water. These it makes use of, but it sticks to its own nature and grows into a tree. May you too live like that tree!
     
- BABA

[V2K]

15th March 2011

How do you accumulate the wealth of character? You cannot exist without activity, so you must, of necessity, act through good qualities. You must curb all desires and become free. The mind filled with good qualities will help you in this process, for it will bear other’s prosperity gladly. It will give up doing injury; it will seek opportunities to help, heal, and foster. It will not only suffer; it will also pardon. It will not incline towards the false; it will be on the alert to speak the truth. It will remain unruffled by lust, greed, anger, and conceit; it will be free from delusion. It will always seek the welfare of the world. From such a mind, will flow an uninterrupted stream of love.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

16th March 2011

We have much to learn from others. There is no need to doubt this fact. Those who refuse to learn thus, declare themselves fools. You can learn from others whatever can promote your spiritual advancement and imbibe them to the full, according to the lines laid down for your own progress in your own moral path or Dharma. You must live as you, not as someone else. Be immersed in your God, in your own beliefs and feelings, in the bliss that springs from your own heart, and in the delight derived from your Sadhana (spiritual practice). If others try to prevent you from doing this, whatever plans they weave or contrivances they employ, resist them. Do not deny yourself the Divine Awareness and the Divine Ecstasy. Pull down the barriers that stand in the way and obstruct the free flow of divinity, sweetness and strength from the depth of your heart.
     
- BABA

[V2K]

17th March 2011

When your mind matures and attains fruition, it easily becomes free of all qualities. It becomes placid, calm, and pure. It easily merges in the one and only Atma. Each person has the unique chance to taste the inner peace that such a mind can grant, but, unfortunately, most are strangers to the unshakable joy and equanimity that is their birthright. Meditation is the only island of refuge in the ocean of life for all beings tossed on the waves of desire, doubt, dread, and despair. This Vedantic truth must be present in the mind even while being engaged in the mundane material world!
     
- BABA