Spiritual Greatness -III, Pujya Gurudev

Steps Towards Achieving Spiritual Greatness 

=Pt.ShriRam Sharma Acharya

t is certainly unwise to waste one's vital energies by reckless indulgence in worldly pleasures. A human being possesses unique qualities of will, discrimination, choice and thinking which put him apart from other creatures of this world. The Creater has gifted these qualities to man to achieve some great objective. This can be attained by the purity of thoughts and deeds which is possible only through self- control. In this connection, this is what the Divine Teacher of the Gita says - 

Asanyatatmana yogodushprapya itimematih| 

Vashyatmana tu yatata Shakyoavaptumumayatah| --- Gita-VI /36 

"It is difficult to attain yoga (union with the Divine) by those who lack self-control. Only those persons who have self-control are able to succeed in their efforts towards self-realisation." 
Self-control is the cornerstone of the edifice of character.Virtues like compassion, detachment, sacrifice, etc. are qualities of a calm,quiet and controlled mind. Mechanical,unbridled, haphazard thoughts lead to similar deeds. If our minds and senses function as obedient, well-honed instrument ( not as despotic masters), liberation will be ours even while doing our worldly duties.Living in the world but not of it. 

Another deadly foe in the path of achieving greatness is ego. Due to their selfish view point, egotists inflict pain on others. But the evil tendency of exploitation of others on the basis of force makes a person fall. So long as this attribute remains, a person might collect huge wealth in the mundane world; but in fact he will be considered a pauper. 

The wealth of a person, in no way, reflects his greatness. Had this been the case, physically strong people, rich people and the ill-famed leaders and dacoits would have been worshipped everywhere. They would have got applause of humanity. But, actually, this is not true. A person gets the honour of being called "great" only when he serves others wholeheartedly. There are millions of people who are living in adversity. Persons working sincerely for the uplift of such people may get the honour of being called great. 

True greatness of a person is not determined by his transitory achievements in the mundane world. A person who is humble, kind, compassionate, pure of heart and generous, may be living an ordinary life but he is a great soul. Such greatness can be attained by a four - step self-effort: Sadhana (self-discipline), Swadhyaya (self-introspection), Sanyam (self-control) and Seva (service).

Thanks GOD, Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma