Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do

Saturday, January 14, 2012

The combination of the three qualities of nature within each of us effects the way we do everything. They influence the kind of food we prefer, the way we worship, whether we choose to take on self-discipline and even how much we give to charity. With regard to food, for example, people with a pure and harmonious nature will tend to prefer foods that promote longevity, increase vitality and improve their health. Those foods tend to be mild, substantial and agreeable to the body. Foods that are bitter, sour, salty, spicy hot and heavily seasoned are preferred by people whose nature is dominated by restless energy. People who have a tendency toward laziness and ignorance will choose foods that are overcooked, nutritionally worthless, stale or even spoiled. These different types of food also exert their influence on the person who eats them. By choosing fresh and wholesome foods you can foster a healthy appetite and a cheerful mind.

Friday, January 13, 2012

While the scriptures recommend self-discipline and control of one’s senses, some people take this to an extreme and practice severe austerities. They senselessly torture their bodies and actually offend God by their efforts because He dwells within them. They become hypocrites who are motivated by ego and attachment to their achievements.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Chapter 17 begins: The Threefold Nature of Faith

Since everything has elements of the three qualities of nature and everyone’s thinking is influenced by a combination of those three elements within themselves, the expression of one’s faith in God reflects that threefold nature as well. The way we express our devotion is in agreement with the natural pattern of our inborn being. Those who are endowed with a primarily pure and harmonious nature will worship one form of God or another for the divine qualities embodied in that deity. Those who are ruled by restless dynamic energy will tend to worship God because he can grant them wealth and other benefits in life as well as fear Him because of His great power to punish the wicked. Those who are influenced by ignorance and a lack of spiritual zeal will think that their ancestors, spirits of the dead and the elements of nature are gods. However one worships, it will be reflected in their lives and influence their spiritual progress or lack thereof.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The threefold gate to hell

The gate that leads to self-destruction has three locks. The keys that open the gates to hell are lust, anger and greed. You should renounce them. Whoever is good and does good bypasses this gate of darkness and will continue on the path to ultimate freedom. Those who ignore this wisdom and follow the impulse of their selfish desires will not find true happiness nor real success in life. In order to know what to do and what to avoid in life, develop an intuitive understanding of the world’s scriptures and you will learn to live happily by doing what is inherently right for you and those around you.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The qualities of those who are deluded by the illusion of the world

Those who exhibit qualities that lead to spiritual decay are grandiose, arrogant, conceited, angry, and harsh, thus displaying their ignorance of reality. They don’t know the right path to take through life or when to refrain from acting at all. They lack truthfulness and believe that the world has no abiding truth in it. They say that there is no God or moral foundation and that life’s sole purpose is the pursuit of lust, power and greed. With such feeble thinking their distorted views destroy their very soul. They are cruel to others and ruin people’s lives, causing suffering and making enemies. Filled with insatiable desires, all their actions are motivated by selfishness and disrespect. They are burdened by one anxiety after another because they see this world as all there is, so they think that seeking physical pleasure is the only goal of life. Confident that the only way to happiness is to amass wealth, they seek their fortune through dishonest means. Tied to their earthly cares and concerns by countless fetters of selfish hopes and expectations, they stay engrossed in satisfying their desires and acquiring more wealth until the moment of death. Their vanity causes them to think that they are better than other people, so they take pride even in their charity. Blinded by pride and intoxicated by wealth, they become bound by their own greed and become trapped in their false thinking, deluded and completely out of touch with reality. They become malicious, filled with hatred and are easily angered. They sink to a deplorable state.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Characteristics of a spiritually inclined person

The characteristics of someone who lives a spiritual life are fearlessness, purity of intention, perseverance in acquiring discriminating wisdom through regular meditation no matter what happens, charity, control of one’s senses, self-sacrifice, study of the scriptures, self-discipline, straightforwardness, non-injury, truthfulness, free from anger and greed, peaceful, compassionate, gentle, modest, calm, forgiving, patient, free from hate and never proud or egotistic. These make up the spiritual wealth of a divinely inclined person.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

God exists both within and beyond the created universe. In His highest form He is infinite and eternal, but part of that eternal being pervades and sustains everything created. All of creation has two aspects; that which seems to be subject to change and destruction and its true essence which is made up of the imperishable Holy Spirit. With just a fraction of God’s divine energy, He is present in the earth and all beings while bringing forth growth in all of the plants. God is present in everyone’s heart, having taken an eternal part of Him to acquire a body with its mind and senses. Our true inner soul-self, which is God, enters into this world as an individual soul and interacts through the mind and senses to manifest an ego and its personality. Thus, it becomes subject to the illusion that the created world expresses. Those who remain deluded do not see the living presence of God within themselves, but through intuitive insight gained in meditation He can be recognized. Understanding this, one is free to perform all the actions necessary in this world while knowing that they have already successfully fulfilled every required duty.