In the service of God and humanity
There was once a disciple of a Guru who went to his Guru and said, “Guruji, I want to live a spiritual life. I want to live in the service of God. I want to go beyond the binding chains of this mundane, materialistic world. But, I feel that I am not quite ready. My desires for a family, for wealth and enjoyment are still too strong. Grant me some time to fulfill these wishes and then I will come to your holy feet.” So the Guru said, “No problem, my...
When I was very young, not long after I came to Parmarth Niketan, a very old, revered saint came to Rishikesh to give his divine satsang at Parmarth Niketan. However, rather than staying in the comforts of the ashram, he used to stay in a small hut on the banks of Ganga a little bit away from the center of the ashrams. I was given the special seva of going to pick him up each morning and bring him to the ashram. As we walked through the busy marketplace, I would try to...
Once a father had three sons whom he feared were going astray. They were beginning to partake of alcohol, drugs and other activities of which their father did not approve. Every time he approached them, they said, “No problem, Dad. We have total control. We can stop whenever we want to.” The father, however, was quite wise. One day he gathered the three sons together and took them into the backyard. He pointed to a small sprout coming up out of the ground. He told one of his sons, “Uproot that sprout.”...
Once a woman was standing outside in the street searching and searching for something under the bright street lamp. A wise man walked by and asked her, “Mother, what are you searching for?” She replied, “I have lost my needle and I am looking for it.” The man helped her search for quite sometime, all to no avail. Finally, he asked, “Mother, where exactly did you lose your needle?” She replied, “I was sewing inside on the chair and the needle was lost there.” The wise man queried, “But Mother, if...
This month we celebrated the sacred day of Buddha Purnima. There are so many beautiful lessons to learn from the life of the Buddha. His life is the epitome of enlightenment in action. When he was born, an astrologer told Buddha’s father that his son would either be an emperor or a sanyasi (holy renunciant). The king understood that in order to prevent his son from renouncing the material world in favor of the spiritual world, he would have to keep him sheltered and protected. Thus, Siddharth (the young Buddha) was raised...
A man once went to see a doctor complaining of aches and pains all over his body. “Doctor my whole body hurts me,” he moaned. The doctor asked him to show exactly where the pain was. The man explained, “When I touch my shoulder, it hurts. When I touch my back it hurts. When I touch my legs, they hurt.” The doctor did a thorough examination and told the man, “Sir, there is nothing wrong with your body. Your finger is broken. That is why it hurts wherever you touch. Get your finger...
At the day of the final “test” from the Swami Narayana Gurukul – Rajkot Sadhana Camp, held at Parmarth Niketan, Pujya Swamiji was requested to give blessings and pravachan. Following is an excerpt from that lecture: Today you are taking your “pariksha” (test); however, a spiritual path has three important components: Pariksha (tests), Samiksha (introspection) and Pratiksha (waiting). The true Pariksha is not simply passing a test given by someone else. The true pariksha is when you start taking your own test. The true pariksha is when you start taking your own photo with...
Today, fasting has become a great trend across the world. In any bookstore you will find volumes of literature extolling one fast or another. There are juice fasts, water fasts, fruit fasts, etc. Fasting is frequently heralded as the “miracle weight loss” for those who have tried all else without success. Connection with the Divine However, while fasting is certainly of great health benefit, to define it merely as a type of “diet” is to undermine one of the oldest and most sacred spiritual practices. Fasting has been used for millennia by...
Dear Divine Souls, The new year, new century and new millennium are now upon us. So many people made vows, cherished ideals in their hearts of what the new Millennium would bring. I have been hearing – a lot more so recently than usual – a despair from many people, due to their perceived lack of ability to effect real change, due to their perceived helplessness and futility in this vast universe. Yet, I say “perceived lack of ability” and “perceived helplessness and futility,” because that is exactly what the problem is: an...