Mastery Over Oneself

Mastery Over Oneself

You know, people who are on the spiritual path, they feel young and alive all the time. They overcome senility. This is one thing for sure. People who meditate, who engage in seva, who have a goal in their life and who live for others and not only themselves, you will see that they have a glow in their life, and on their face.

If you look at Mahatma Gandhi, or Nelson Mandela, you see that there is a glow in them. That is because their life is dedicated to something bigger. So Lord Krishna says in Bhavad Gita, 'One who comes to me will never have this (jara) old age. There is no death for them and they feel liberated'.

Coming to the master is not being bound but feeling the inner freedom. It is not slavery, it is mastery over oneself. It is freedom from our own mind. Freedom from craving and aversions. Freedom from feeling of 'I can do this' and 'I cannot do this'. So those who take refuge in me, strive for liberation.

==========================

Q: When death is the ultimate truth of life, then why does one take the guidance of astrology?

Guruji: Are you asking this for yourself or for somebody else? If you are asking for yourself then just become aware that all of us are going to die, for sure. The important thing is that while we live, we shall be happy and have fun in all that we do.

While man is alive, he usually gets entangled in thinking, 'Oh, what will happen to me? What if there are some difficulties tomorrow? How will I be happy?'

This urges him to acquire wealth for a sense of security. The main aim of life is to be happy and comfortable with what we have, but often the path one takes brings misery instead of happiness. This is utter foolishness.

So what does an intelligent person do? An intelligent person knows for sure that God is with them, God loves them and belongs to them, so they don’t need to worry about anything. This feeling of deep faith gives them confidence. This is the secret of confidence. So they are able to do and achieve what they want.

See, if you are in the driving seat then you can turn the car in whichever direction you want, and spirituality gives you that strength to go where you want to. There is a saying, 'Ram jharoke baith sabka mujra le' (Meaning: Repose in the faith of the Divine and see everything as a passing event). So when the connection with the Divine happens, no matter where you are, you can achieve and get what you wish for. Whatever blessing you give starts to manifest. This is the great wealth of spiritual knowledge.

We have such great knowledge with us in this country but many people are not even aware of it. People go to the temple, just break a coconut, give money to the priest to perform Aarti (act of rotating the sacred lamp before the deity) and keep wondering on how to improve their life. They come back home and get stuck again in craving and aversion, criticizing others, belittling others, and getting entangled in feelings of jealousy and greed. They spend their whole life like that.

To improve your life you should find joy in spirituality. Once you find this joy, do not run away from your family responsibilities; stay at home and attend to your family responsibilities also. Balance both so that your spiritual life as well as your family life improves. This is such beautiful knowledge and this is what we must practice also.

Om Namah Shivay