HINDU FASTS & FESTIVALS : - 23-6.

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23. Rama Navami-6.

 Devotion to God is not a simple emotion.

It is the result of intense dispassion and purity of heart and attitude.

You should strive your utmost to possess the good qualities that are extolled in the Ramayana and exemplified in the life of Lord Rama.

Otherwise, emotion may rise up in you temporarily to a kind of ecstasy, but you will not experience divine consciousness thereby.

Devotion is a fruit which ripens gradually through the processes of self-restraint and virtue.

Without intense dispassion there can be no real Sadhana for Self-realisation.

Only after detachment from the world of things, is it possible to attain the Supreme Godhead.

Remember this.


Devotion has absolutely nothing to do with age, caste, creed, position or sex.

Generally, the worldly-minded people say : “We will practise meditation and devotion when we retire from service.”

This is a serious mistake.

How can you do serious Sadhana after squeezing out all your energy in working?

How will you be able to practise the strict Yogic discipline in your old age?

Is there any certainty in life?

No, the spiritual seeds of discipline and devotion must be sown in you while you are young, while your heart is tender and untainted.

Then only will it strike a deep root, blossom forth and bear fruit when you become old and retire.

Only then can you bravely face the god of death and meet him with a smile!

Swami Sivananda
 To be continued  .....


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