Eating, sleeping, fear, copulation these are the common characteristics
of man and beast. We differ from the beasts in that we can discriminate
between right and wrong. If one lives on a low plane of consciousness,
one finds pleasure in the senses. With spiritual growth, one experiences
happiness in subtler things. Then the person no longer finds enjoyment
in the gross. Most people live the lives of beasts — drinking,
hunting, running after a mate. If one cannot rise to a higher plane of
consciousness, human birth is wasted.
Meditate! Meditate! Be absorbed in His consciousness! If you can think
single mindedly of the Master for five years, you will achieve
everything. Then it does not matter where you live. East and West will
be the same to you. Know that God alone is real. Nothing else matters.
There is the ocean of infinite existence, infinite consciousness, and
infinite bliss, seemingly divided by the stick of an ego which lies upon
it.
This ego is the first begotten son of desire. Our cravings alone keep us
separated from God.
Sometime or other we must be freed from them. Root out all desires and
call on Him! If He wills that the body should die, let it die while
chanting His name!
An enlightened being, who has seen God and been freed from
cravings, again engages in work for the good of others. You also may work,
under the direction of illumined souls, because selfless work will help you grow
spiritually. Actions performed in the spirit of nonattachment do not create
bondage. They stop the
wheel of karma.
Swami Turiyananda (1863–1922) - Disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
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