I love this excerpt from a satsanga (Q&A) given by Sri Daya Mata, the longtime president of Self-Realization Fellowship. It drives home the point that your spiritual path will only take you as far as you take it. Enlightenment takes time and effort. As Beverly Sills noted, “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” Here are Daya Ma’s insights from the Fall 2006 issue of Self-Realization magazine.
Sri Daya Mata
Seeking God is like tending a flower garden: You plant the seeds and wait patiently for the flowers to bloom; but if you also allow weeds to sprout up and remain, gradually those intruders will crowd out the good plants and take over the garden. When you want the blossoms of God’s presence, you have to keep that in mind. [Paramahansa Yogananda] used a similar analogy: “I plant the seed of God-yearning in the soil of your consciousness. Now you have to water it and keep a fence around it to protect it from the voracious animals of wrong desires, doubts, and bad habits, which if not checked will gradually destroy your seedling of spiritual aspiration.”
The way to nurture and protect that plant of yearning for God is by regularity in meditation, right company, and doing our best to practice the presence of God when not in meditation.
Click here to view all my posts about Paramahansa Yogananda and Self-Realization Fellowship.
HOW TO SUPPORT THIS BLOG AT NO EXPENSE TO YOU
Just click here or click on the photo of my book on my homepage every time you go to Amazon to make any purchase on Amazon. Thank you so much!
ABOUT PHIL BOLSTA
Phil is the author of Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything, a collection of 45 inspiring, life-changing stories from prominent people he interviewed, including Joan Borysenko, Deepak Chopra, geneticist Dr. Francis Collins, acclaimed sportswriter Frank Deford, Dr. Larry Dossey, Wayne Dyer, Dan Millman, Caroline Myss, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, Dr. Bernie Siegel, James Van Praagh, singer Billy Vera, Doreen Virtue, Neale Donald Walsch, and bassist Victor Wooten.
Here is a three-minute video that introduces you to Phil and his book. Click here to buy Sixty Seconds. Click here to ask Phil to add you to his e-mail list for updates on his blog and books.
Reading this book is like spending a few minutes face to face with each of the contributors and listening to their personal stories. Click here to read unsolicited testimonials from readers. Learn more by visiting the official Sixty Seconds website.
Sixty Seconds was one of three finalists in the General Interest/How-To category at the 12th annual Visionary Awards presented by COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources) in Denver on June 27, 2009.
Tags: God, meditation, spiritual
