There is necessity of money, no doubt, in worldly life; but do not ponder much over it and other material gains. Contentment with what comes of its own accord is the best attitude. Do not be anxious to hoard. Those who dedicate their very life and soul to Him, those who are His devotees and have taken refuge in Him, can never think of such worldly matters. With them, expenditure is commensurate with income. As money comes into their hands in one way, it is spent in another.
Question: How can I go through my devotional practices when I have always to think of my daily bread?
Answer: He for whom you work will supply you with your necessaries. God made provisions for your support before He sent you into this world.
We possess home, family and children for a short time, but these are all ephemeral. The palm tree itself is real, but when one or two of its fruits fall to the ground, why should we regret it?
Live in the world, but be not worldly. As the saying goes, make the frog dance before the snake, but let not the snake swallow the frog.
A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in the boat. An aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him.
It matters not if you live the life of a house-holder, only you must fix your mind on God. Do your work with one hand, and hold the feet of the Lord with the other. When you have no work in the world to do hold His feet fast to your heart with both your hands.
What is the state of a man who is in the world but is free from its attachments? He is like a lotus-leaf in water, or like a mud-fish in the marsh. Neither of these is polluted by the element in which it lives. The water wets not the leaf, nor does the mud stain the glossy coat of the fish.
It does not matter much whether you are a family man or not. Always perform your duties unattached, with your mind fixed on God. As for instance, the man who has got a carbuncle on his back talks with his friends and others, and even carries out undertakings, but his mind is all the while on his pain.
Living in the world one is safe, if one has Viveka (discrimination of the Real from the unreal), and Vairagya (dispassion for worldly things), and along with these intense devotion to God.
What are you to do when you are placed in this world? Give up everything to Him, resign yourself to Him, and there will be no more trouble for you. Then you will come to know that everything is done by His will.
If you desire to live in the world unattached, you should first practice devotion in solitude for some time--a year, six months, a month, or at least twelve days. During this period of retirement, you should constantly meditate upon God and pray to Him for Divine love. You should think that there is nothing in the world which you may call your own, that those whom you consider as your own are sure to pass away some day or other. God alone is really your own. He is your all-in-all. How to obtain Him?--this should be your only concern.
If you first smear your palms with oil and then cut open the jack fruit the milky exudation of the fruit will not stick to your hands and inconvenience you. If you first fortify yourself with the true knowledge of the Universal Self, and then live in the midst of wealth and worldliness, surely they will in no way affect you.
As a boy holding to a post of pillar whirls about it with headlong speed without any fear of falling, so perform your worldly duties, fixing your hold firmly upon God, and you will be free from danger.
Always consider that your family concerns are not yours; they are God's and you are His servant come here to obey His commands. When this idea becomes firm, there remains nothing indeed that a man may call his own.
He is a true hero who performs all the duties of the world with his mind fixed on God. None but a strong man can, while carrying a load of two maunds (more than a hundredweight) on his head, stop to admire a bridal procession passing his way.
Those who live in the world and still try to gain salvation are like the soldiers that fight from behind the ramparts of a fort, while the ascetics who renounce the world in search of God are like the soldiers fighting in the open field. To fight the enemy from within the fort is more convenient and far safer than to fight in the open field.
Before soldiers go out to meet the enemy, they learn the art of fighting in their barracks, where they do not have to put up with the hardships incidental to action in the open field. So avail yourselves of the conveniences of your home-life to raise your spiritual condition before you take to the austerities of an ascetic life.
Question: How can I go through my devotional practices when I have always to think of my daily bread?
Answer: He for whom you work will supply you with your necessaries. God made provisions for your support before He sent you into this world.
We possess home, family and children for a short time, but these are all ephemeral. The palm tree itself is real, but when one or two of its fruits fall to the ground, why should we regret it?
Live in the world, but be not worldly. As the saying goes, make the frog dance before the snake, but let not the snake swallow the frog.
A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in the boat. An aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him.
It matters not if you live the life of a house-holder, only you must fix your mind on God. Do your work with one hand, and hold the feet of the Lord with the other. When you have no work in the world to do hold His feet fast to your heart with both your hands.
What is the state of a man who is in the world but is free from its attachments? He is like a lotus-leaf in water, or like a mud-fish in the marsh. Neither of these is polluted by the element in which it lives. The water wets not the leaf, nor does the mud stain the glossy coat of the fish.
It does not matter much whether you are a family man or not. Always perform your duties unattached, with your mind fixed on God. As for instance, the man who has got a carbuncle on his back talks with his friends and others, and even carries out undertakings, but his mind is all the while on his pain.
Living in the world one is safe, if one has Viveka (discrimination of the Real from the unreal), and Vairagya (dispassion for worldly things), and along with these intense devotion to God.
What are you to do when you are placed in this world? Give up everything to Him, resign yourself to Him, and there will be no more trouble for you. Then you will come to know that everything is done by His will.
If you desire to live in the world unattached, you should first practice devotion in solitude for some time--a year, six months, a month, or at least twelve days. During this period of retirement, you should constantly meditate upon God and pray to Him for Divine love. You should think that there is nothing in the world which you may call your own, that those whom you consider as your own are sure to pass away some day or other. God alone is really your own. He is your all-in-all. How to obtain Him?--this should be your only concern.
If you first smear your palms with oil and then cut open the jack fruit the milky exudation of the fruit will not stick to your hands and inconvenience you. If you first fortify yourself with the true knowledge of the Universal Self, and then live in the midst of wealth and worldliness, surely they will in no way affect you.
As a boy holding to a post of pillar whirls about it with headlong speed without any fear of falling, so perform your worldly duties, fixing your hold firmly upon God, and you will be free from danger.
Always consider that your family concerns are not yours; they are God's and you are His servant come here to obey His commands. When this idea becomes firm, there remains nothing indeed that a man may call his own.
He is a true hero who performs all the duties of the world with his mind fixed on God. None but a strong man can, while carrying a load of two maunds (more than a hundredweight) on his head, stop to admire a bridal procession passing his way.
Those who live in the world and still try to gain salvation are like the soldiers that fight from behind the ramparts of a fort, while the ascetics who renounce the world in search of God are like the soldiers fighting in the open field. To fight the enemy from within the fort is more convenient and far safer than to fight in the open field.
Before soldiers go out to meet the enemy, they learn the art of fighting in their barracks, where they do not have to put up with the hardships incidental to action in the open field. So avail yourselves of the conveniences of your home-life to raise your spiritual condition before you take to the austerities of an ascetic life.
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