CONDITIONS OF THE
SPIRITUAL LIFE
Self-effort-01
This means effort, the
struggle to go beyond the thought world we have been building up for years.
Most of the people are unwilling to abandon it. They are too lethargic to work
against their own mind. Sri Ramakrishna once complained to the Divine Mother
that he had cooked the food kept it before the people, but still they did not
take the trouble of eating it. [See to
work against their own mind. Sri Ramakrishna once complained to the Divine
Mother that he had cooked the food and kept it before the people, but still
they did not take the trouble of eating it. [See Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1975), p.
206]. We always want everything to be done for us by somebody else. There can
be no vicarious salvation without any self-effort on the part of the aspirant.
Most of the so-called religious people are mere parasites in the world of
religion and spiritual life. It would be better for them to take up something
else.
SWAMI YATISWARANANDA – Meditation and Spiritual Life –
Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore India. Fourth Edition. 1998 p: 94
17-Dec-2013
CONDITIONS OF THE
SPIRITUAL LIFE
Self-effort-02
Before we actually
begin our spiritual life in real earnest, we must decide if we are really and
fully prepared to pay the price for it. Generally there are two tendencies, the
worldly tendency and the spiritual tendency, in us. If both are more or less
really strong in beginning, the spiritual tendency must be strengthened;
otherwise there will be no progress, and the tug-of-war going on in ourselves
can never be overcome. That is why it is absolutely necessary for us to fix
once for all our ideal, and then stick to it, whatever happens. If we really
wish to follow the difficult path beset with so many pitfalls and dangers, we
must also be prepared to overcome all the difficulties. If we wish to transcend
all the unrealities, there must always be a certain amount of fearlessness and
heroism of the dare-devil in us. The path of the aspirant is a very dangerous
one; dangers and pitfalls are lurking everywhere, on all sides; and if once
caught, there is no more chance for many people. Unless you sacrifice all your
worldly desires and your sense of ‘I’-ness, you can never realize the higher ideal.
