One of the important devotional virtues, which will stand you in good stead as you move ahead towards God, is the intensity of your aspiration. A strong aspiration will help you cut through the greatest hindrance as a knife cuts through butter. However, if your aspiration is weak, then every little obstacle will appear like a mountain to you. So, you must endeavor not to remain lukewarm, but to keep the desire for spiritual attainment burning brightly.
How can you inflame your aspiration for God? This requires chintan, or contemplation. Repeatedly contemplate upon the Divine knowledge of the scriptures, and the knowledge you have heard from the lotus mouth of your Guru and the Saints. Usually seekers feel great inspiration when they attend the lecture series, but once it is over, they find their enthusiasm waning. The reason for this is that while hearing lectures, the knowledge remains fresh in their intellect. But then, due to lack of revision, the knowledge starts evaporating, causing a dip in their enthusiasm. Chintan, or contemplation about what you have heard and read, is the antidote for this. Such chintan will strengthen your decision that your eternal relationship is with God alone. And a strong decision will be your asset to further steps.
The Vedas describe a powerful formula for progressing quickly on the path:
स यथा कामो भवति तत् क्रतुर्भवति यत् क्रतुर्भवति
तत् कर्म कुरुते यत् कर्म कुरुते तदभिसंपद्यते ||
( बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् 4.4.5)
"The stronger your decision that attaining God is the goal of your life, the more intense will be your desire to meet Him. And the more intense your desire, the deeper will be your resolve to do the things that take you closer to Him. The deeper your resolve, the harder you will try. The harder you try, the more Grace you will attract, and the closer you will come to Him."
So, appreciate the importance of a strong aspiration on the spiritual path and endeavor to ignite it within yourself. Do your sadhana on a daily basis. Read Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj's "Prem Ras Siddhant" regularly in which he has summarized the knowledge of all the Vedic scriptures, watch the lecture DVD's you have procured, and keep revising the knowledge with your intellect.
Very very true and practical advice from Swami Mukundanandaji."The stronger our decision that attaining God is the goal of our life, the more intense will be our desire to meet Him. And the more intense our desire, the deeper will be our resolve to do the things that take us closer to Him. The deeper our resolve, the harder we will try. The harder we try, the more Grace we will attract, and the closer we will come to Him."
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