Always give in the highest way. The more you do that, the more you will find that central point of joy, which is at the heart of all religions, and from which everything wonderful can flower in your life, says SWAMI KRIYANANDA
A vital part of the spiritual path is to understand the lives of great liberated masters. Self-realization, although attainable by every one of us, is very difficult to relate to with our human consciousness. Thus, to understand how a great saint attained God can help us understand those aspects of our own humanity that can help us attain divine realization.
It’s a very interesting fact that there’s only one field of human endeavour in which there has been unanimity.
In science, you don’t find all scientists saying you should become a scientist. In business, many people who have made a lot of money say it’s by no means easy to become rich.
In no worldly pursuit will you find unanimity about the goal of life. But in one field there is absolute unanimity, and that is the spiritual path.
In every age, in every country, in every religion, there have been great men and women who have attained that state of divine consciousness, and once having attained it, all of them have said, “This is what life was meant for.” There was never a sense that “I must keep this for myself!” Rather, they wanted everyone to have it, and they wanted to share it so badly that they were perfectly happy to give up their lives in order that others might attain that state, too.
Once you attain that state, you experience the same reality as everybody else who has ever attained it. We discover that we are not this body of flesh, nor this personality of likes and dislikes. We are that pure spark of Spirit manifesting for a time in this body. And ultimately we have to awaken to who we really are, sparks of the Infinite.
This is what the scriptures say. Nobody has a monopoly on truth.
One of Paramhansa Yogananda’s disciples asked him, “Will I ever fall from the spiritual path?” Yogananda replied, “How could you? Everyone in the world is on the spiritual path.”
We don’t have to call it “spiritual”; we don’t have to give it a label and lock it up in a temple or church.
The spiritual path is who we are, because we are all seeking something universal.
Yogananda defined this universal religion in two simple ways: One, we are all seeking to escape pain, and two, we are seeking to experience joy. We want to escape the pain that comes when we make mistakes.
We want to reach the point where we no longer make the kind of mistakes in life that bring us pain. It isn’t that God wants to hurt us; rather, He simply put the law there to show us which directions to go to find joy.
Being selfish or hurting others causes a shrinking in our hearts. When you live that way, you don’t know why you feel uncomfortable or why you’re suffering inside. You may think, “I’ve got to think of me! I’ve got to make my own life better.” But the truth is, you can’t dwell only on yourself and become happier.
As you think of giving to others, of sharing with them, you automatically get into an expansive mode that relieves the pain caused by contracting your heart. It is our nature to expand, and anything that contracts our sympathies, and our understanding, causes pain.
As we expand our consciousness inwardly, we begin to feel that we’re a part of the people around us; that we’re walking through them, smiling through them, thinking through them. The more we can expand our consciousness, the more we realize we have a vast identity. This is the goal of all human striving — that we give up the thought of our limitations, and realize that we are one with the Infinite. This, too, is the essence of all religions.
Try to live according to the example of the great masters. Whatever you are doing, try to think, “How would they do it?” Try to perfect yourself in everything that you do. Act always in a divine way, not in outward form only, but with a perfect inward attitude of expansiveness, of sharing, of giving.
Above all, seek to give in the highest way. Give God from your heart to God in all hearts. The more you do that, the more you will find that central point of joy, which is at the heart of all religions, and from which everything wonderful can flower in your life.
Swami Kriyananda (born J. Donald Walters) was only 22 when he became a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, the author of Autobiography of a Yogi. At Yogananda’s request, Swami Kriyananda devoted his life to lecturing and writing, helping others to experience the living presence of God within. He founded the Ananda community.
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