Happy Deepavali (Diwali) and Peaceful New Year

Wishing You And Your Family A Very Happy Deepavali

And

A Peaceful & Prosperous New Year

Importance of 'Goal of life', it's Necessity and Benefits

Have a permanent 'GOAL of Life'

If you live a spiritual life, having a Goal of Self Realization or to have divine vision of God is very important. How can you keep traveling directionless without any destination?

Destination (Goal) is very important. The next thing is to get a road map. Road map gives you clarity and right direction. Guru, Shastras, saints are road map.

Always ask the question WHY? Why am I doing this activity and HOW will it benefit my spiritual progress. Goal will give you clarity. You will observe that what ever you do is now more meaningful. All spiritual or religious activities including meditation will be more beneficial if they are done with one goal - Self Realization or to have divine vision of God. Goal will not allow you to get side-tracked & give undue importance to useless activities.

What should NOT be the goal of life.

Many sadhaks or spiritual aspirants, when asked about their goal of life, find it difficult to answer spontaneously. Some have goals like spreading their master's or Guru's words / work, increasing the strength of foundation in members i.e. devotees and financially, some think that serving their Guru is the only goal of life (without understanding the true meaning of 'serving a Guru'), some want to teach shastras or some yogic kriyas, asanas, pranayams, etc, etc. Some of them want peace of mind, some want to stay fit and healthy. These cannot be THE GOAL of life. The Goal of Life is only one - SELF REALIZATION or to have Divine vision of God.

NECESSITY of Self Realization as the ONLY Goal of life.

If you want to teach anything, you first need to read it, understand it, apply it and master it. Without understanding Gita, how can say that Gita is the best and very valuable and so I am distributing it for free. In order to teach meditation, you should know what is mediation and what is the final state of meditation and when the process of meditation ends permanently. Study the lives of great saints and avatars. Lord Buddha, Adi Shankaracharya, Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Maa, Swami Vivekananda, Lord Swaminarayan, or Lord Mahavir. All of them had something in common in their lives. First they isolated themselves, meditated without caring for samsara (society), realized their true nature, established themselves in Atma Sthiti and then started to preach or teach the world.

Take the e.g. of Swami Vivekananda: Narendranath did not do anything for society, he followed his Guru Sri Ramakrishna's instructions, meditated, and experienced samadhi. Then Sri Ramakrishna gave him his siddhis and ordered him to take care of rest of his spiritual brothers and then complete the work which his Guru gave him. He than took the name of Swami Vivekananda and we all know what has he done to Hindu Dharma and to the world. All other examples given above also lived in similar way. In short, Swami Vivekananda did not do anything for society on his own, but after Self realization, Swami Vivekanada (a totally different identity) got instructions from his Guru Sri Ramakrishna and served the world.

In the same way, doing pranayama or asana is good for health and can be the first step in Yog, but cannot lead to you self realization.

Similarly for spreading teachings or giving discourses can be helpful but cannot bring you or others salvation. Remember, a patient CANNOT treat a patient. One who is not realized, cannot make others realize their true nature.

I do not say, serving or teaching or giving discourses is not beneficial, it definitely is, but it should not be the goal of life. You cannot accept students and become yourself a Guru. Giving discourses on Guru's instruction, helping others solving doubts is a different issue and taking responsibility is another.

Sri Ramakrishna says, "One cannot teach men without a direct command from God"

An Excerpt:

"A man's ego is destroyed after three croaks, as it were, if he gets into the clutches of a real teacher. But if the teacher is an 'unripe' one, then both the teacher and the disciple undergo endless suffering. The disciple cannot get rid either of his ego or of the shackles of the world. If a disciple falls into the clutches of an incompetent teacher, he doesn't attain liberation.".

Lives of saints are an example of what a realized saint is capable of doing after Self Realization and getting direct orders for God. When God assigns you any work, he also gives you the ability to complete the given work. In case of Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna transferred his Siddhis to Swami Vivekananda so that Swami Vivekananda can accomplish the given task.

BENEFITS of having Self Realization as the ONLY goal of life

There are many benefits. Just the point a few, here are some:

1. You will always be focused on your Goal. As a result, sooner or later, you will definitely meet (Self Realized) Guru and thereby increasing chances of getting realized in the present life.

2. Gradually, you will gain Clarity. Clarity in thought and in meditation. Due to clarity, you will not be trapped or get distracted or give undue importance to any useless or unnecessary activities like promotion, marketing of so-called spiritual goods, appealing for donation and doing door-to-door marketing for your foundation to raise money (in the form of donation) for any good looking project like building of schools, hospitals, etc. In these activities adarsh is ucchatam but Tatva Jnana is of nimnatar kaksha. (These activities may look to be highly moral and ethical, but the spiritual knowledge or spiritual essence is of very low grade). There are ever so many Gurus in the world who rob the wealth of their disciples. But I consider that Guru a rare one among Gurus who removes the afflictions of the disciple's heart. (Sri Guru Gita - 162).

3. Ensures and accelerates spiritual progress. Actually, reverse is true. Not having self realization as the only goal in life will delay or slow down or some times stop your spiritual progress.

4. Lesser dependence on human beings and only dependence on God, who is permanent and the most near and dear to you.

5. Vairagya is an ananda. Vairagya is the absence of Bhogya padarth (worldly ojbects) in mind. Since you do not have any demand, you will also feel deep peace and bliss flowing through you throughout the day.

6. Finally, you will reach your Destination. You will realize your true nature

Think . Realize . Awaken Yourself . & Act

It is time to take a decision.

Give your life a direction.

Let this New Year be the beginning of new life.