A Person who wishes to scale the summit must indeed climb his way up step by step. Gnana or Self-realization is the final culmination of yoga and is not independent of it.

One is bewildered by the variety of goods that are spread out for sale in a market. A man must decide what he ought to buy from the market and acquire the means for buying it. In the art of living, a man must first choose his goal and set about to reach it.

Even as a farmer who wants to reap a rich harvest must toil hard, plough the hard soil, make it soft before the seeds are sown, protect the young crops from extraneous growth of weeds and keep off the cattle, a spiritual seeker who aspires to the summum bonum of life - God-realization - must seek the company of God's chosen seers, listen care- fully to their advice and tread the path shown by them. There is no short-cut to Self-realization.

It is difficult to conceive the reality of the Atma in the consciousness of one's mind even as it is to see a shadow in a dream state.

* * *

A man cannot become rich overnight. It is only by ceaseless efforts over the years that he can save up money which will make him rich. Even so, a spiritual aspirant must struggle hard and unremittingly to attain to the highest abode of the Kingdom of God. One must set sail when the wind is favourable.

more »