Web Content Display Ten MaximsOur spiritual journey starts from the body level through the mind into the realms of the soul. The posture, the seat and the time are all related to the external body and external world. When we enter the realm of the mind again we have to adopt the necessary discipline and system to get the aspired result. We should pray to the Master to help us in our spiritual evolution and the heart should be filled with love and devotion to Master. This attitude is highlighted in the second maxim. " Begin your puja (meditation) with a prayer for spiritual evolution with a heart full of love and devotion." This attitude of prayer creates a vacuum in us initiating the flow of divine grace into our hearts. When the love and devotion increases the closeness of Master towards the abhyasi (aspirant) also increases. Goal fixing and dedicated, sustained effort to achieve the goal are very essential even to succeed in material pursuits. The third maxim gives us the importance of this approach in spiritual pursuit. It stresses the necessity of nonstop work till we attain the final goal, which is God realization. " Fix up your goal which should be complete oneness with God. Rest not till the ideal is achieved." If the goal is not properly fixed the aspirants tend to get confused in between and there is also the danger of getting stuck into the in- between stages, without having enough clarity about the final stage to be attained. Continuous effort to reach the goal without rest will create the craving in us, which is the real force taking us to the final stages of our spiritual journey. So much stress is given for dress code and personality development, especially in modern times, to gain success in business and profession. Your personality plays a big role in your progress in commercial activities and promotion in your profession. In spiritual life also fine-tuning our personality plays a very important role though essentially, not in the same line as in worldly life. In spirituality the most helpful approach is to imbibe simplicity and purity both in our external and internal nature. The dress code for this at the subtle level is given by the fourth maxim, which says, " Be plain and simple to be identical with nature." We all know the fact that in life any thing that we do in contradiction to the purpose or the goal that we have fixed, will only push us to failures in achieving the desired targets. Suppose you have fixed a goal of keeping your body healthy and fit through proper workouts. And you also indulge in over eating and drinking at the same time. The contradictory activities will only get you failures by way of a sickly body. Take another example. You want to amass wealth by doing a business and putting in lot of effort to achieve this. On the other side, you spend extravagantly on activities like gambling. This attitude will never let you attain the goal of amassing wealth. In spiritual life, being truthful is an effort we put in to reach the goal of Reality. Truth is the reflection of Reality. It gives an idea of Reality at the mundane day-to-day situations. Whenever a lie is told, the person telling the lie veils the reality of that particular situation. By repetition of this act slowly the person moves away from the Reality to a dangerous no return position. Happiness at the worldly level always kindles the ego. On the contrary pain and misery will shake us into the reality of our helpless condition. We begin to realize that but for the mercy and compassion of the divine a human being can attain nothing. When viewed from this point, miseries and pain really remind you of your dependence and love for the beloved, and so can be only blessings, which should be taken with gratitude. The words of a saint who was suffering from a chronic illness are revelatory. She said, " Disease is my Guru." Through the pain and disease she became a saint by her attitude of total dependence on God. The fifth maxim highlights these themes: " Be truthful. Take miseries as divine blessings for your own good and be thankful."
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