Post by girlscout on Mar 4, 2019 2:40:22 GMT
Excerpt:
”being there made me truly grasp for the first time what Guruji had tried to explain about charity a year previously. The reality was that this kind of help was sadly impermanent and insufficient. In a few years the books would become outdated and the mountain of paper and pens used up. These things could not solve the refugees’ long-term problems. Food supplies had been depleted since my last visit. The guerrilla warfare was moving nearer to the camp and shots could often be heard at night. Things were steadily getting worse. It was an altogether tragic situation. When Lahiri Mahasaya spoke to his disciples about charity, he said that social convention demanded that we be charitable to those less fortunate than ourselves, and that such external service was a good thing. However, one had to be aware that giving to the poor did not lead to self-realisation, nor was it a lasting help. To truly serve God meant to serve one’s own soul. Unstable prana was the cause of suffering and pain and it was man’s highest duty to make it constant. Through Kriya pranayama.
Or as Guruji put it: ‘We are prepared to do everything for others and nothing for ourselves.’ Yet the best way to help the world was actually to take pity on our own soul. To have mercy on Self. Everything always seemed to boil down to the one word: practice. A consideration of the kind of charity a spiritual master could give as opposed to what I had just given to the Karenni ensured that any remaining feelings of personal pride were swiftly blown away.”
and
”when the soul is ready for freedom and the heart desires to break the chain of birth and rebirth, there is actually no turning back. It has to keep fighting and learning and will suffer if it opts for cowardice. Running away has its price, but freedom of choice still remains. In one life or another, the lesson that there is no lasting happiness in this transitory world has to be learned.”
”being there made me truly grasp for the first time what Guruji had tried to explain about charity a year previously. The reality was that this kind of help was sadly impermanent and insufficient. In a few years the books would become outdated and the mountain of paper and pens used up. These things could not solve the refugees’ long-term problems. Food supplies had been depleted since my last visit. The guerrilla warfare was moving nearer to the camp and shots could often be heard at night. Things were steadily getting worse. It was an altogether tragic situation. When Lahiri Mahasaya spoke to his disciples about charity, he said that social convention demanded that we be charitable to those less fortunate than ourselves, and that such external service was a good thing. However, one had to be aware that giving to the poor did not lead to self-realisation, nor was it a lasting help. To truly serve God meant to serve one’s own soul. Unstable prana was the cause of suffering and pain and it was man’s highest duty to make it constant. Through Kriya pranayama.
Or as Guruji put it: ‘We are prepared to do everything for others and nothing for ourselves.’ Yet the best way to help the world was actually to take pity on our own soul. To have mercy on Self. Everything always seemed to boil down to the one word: practice. A consideration of the kind of charity a spiritual master could give as opposed to what I had just given to the Karenni ensured that any remaining feelings of personal pride were swiftly blown away.”
and
”when the soul is ready for freedom and the heart desires to break the chain of birth and rebirth, there is actually no turning back. It has to keep fighting and learning and will suffer if it opts for cowardice. Running away has its price, but freedom of choice still remains. In one life or another, the lesson that there is no lasting happiness in this transitory world has to be learned.”