Several times in the past I narrated a story from the Hara- Párvatii saḿváda [dialogues of Shiva and Párvatii]. The story goes that once Párvatii asked Shiva, “What are the secrets of success?” In His reply, Lord Shiva said that there are seven secrets of success:
Read MoreIt has been said, “Guru krpáhi kevalam”. It has also been said that “Brahmaeva gururekha náparah”. You know in the word “guru”, there are two syllables, “gu” and “ru”. “Gu” means “darkness”; darkness in spiritual life, darkness in psycho-spiritual strata. And “ru” means “dispelling entity”. “Guru” means the entity that dispels all sorts of darkness from your spiritual and psychic bodies.
Read MoreWhen people remember that they are a part of the vast extended body of Parama Puruśa there can be no distortion in their minds, even if they are criticized or abused by others or treated as fools, paupers or insignificant mortals. Human beings are imperfect – only Parama Puruśa is perfect.
Read MoreIn this world, anybody and everybody can tolerate separation from you. When a person dies, what feelings will his mother and father, his brothers and sisters show? They will cry aloud, but after two or three days, normalcy will return. They will resume their normal mundane duties. And after a few days more or a few months they will forget the person. In societies where a widow’s marriage is accepted by people, the widow will remarry.
Read MoreWhat is the meaning of this shloka? If one’s dharma is difficult to follow and others’ dharma is seemingly very easy to follow, it is still preferable to die while following one’s own dharma. Any other dharma may be very dangerous. Many people wrongly interpret “dharma” as being Hindu Dharma, Vaishnavite Dharma, Shaivite Dharma, etc. But actually “dharma” means mánava dharma (“human dharma”).
Read MoreI have already told you how spiritual aspirants should live their lives. I have said that a real sádhaka [spiritual aspirant] will properly discharge his or her duties in the relative world, and will at the same time attend properly to his or her duties in the spiritual world; and between the two worlds, there will be a happy blending. In the external world there should be an objective adjustment, and at the same time there should, in the psychic world, be a subjective approach.
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