HOW TO REMOVE OBSTACLES?

 

THE WORKING OF THE SPIRITUAL FORCE

You do not need an outside force to activate your Spiritual Self, for the Kingdom of Heaven is within yourself all the time, and that is the force we have to realize through our spiritual practices. When this realization dawns, we recognize that the Spirit is always within us. The mechanics of that spiritual force work in different ways – firstly, it works in the purity you develop within you; then, it works in the way of your lifestyle. Then it also works in the knowledge, the Jnana, you gain. And it also develops in the Bhakti, the devotion you develop within yourself.

These are the simple principles of the mechanical workings of the spiritual force. But this might just not be understood. So, we must go into greater detail. When understanding develops, the awareness develops. When devotion develops, the Heart opens up. When Karma develops to its highest degree of purity, all actions become pure. And all this leads to the royal path of Raja Yoga, which is me. When you have developed to a certain degree, you will find progress in life, leading you further into more excellent and more significant progress until you reach the goal for which your life has been meant.

EVERYTHING IN LIFE IS COMPOSED OF THE SYMPHONY OF DIVINITY

The goal is to go through all these aspects through the various vicissitudes of life. The water of the river flows, but do you know how many rocks, stones, logs, and other things it has to flow over? That flowing over is the difficulties you find in life. Those are the miseries because you think only of the rocks, stones, and boulders and logs instead of the freshness of the water. So, where is your attention now? I tell you where, do you want to hear it? Your tension is in your backside because the backside bumps in the river of life. But raise your head to the heavens and see the eternity, the vastness of the blue skies. Let your concentration be there and admire the blue days. Some days it will be cloudy, some days it will be sunny. So, what is the difference between the sun and the clouds? Because it is the sun that has produced the clouds. Do you see the combination that exists between sun and clouds?

You worry and worry and worry and go into misery because you do not discriminate between the clouds and the sun when the clouds and the sun are one. Have you ever thought the clouds are nothing else but one? One has created the other, and the other has created the one. When you realize the oneness between the clouds and the sun, you will understand that everything in life comprises the Symphony of Divinity. And when this is realized, you will find nothing ugly.

THERE ARE NO OBSTACLES

The secret of life is to find Divinity in everything. There is nothing in this world that is ugly. Everything is beautiful, depending on what attitude you develop. So, on the spiritual path, there might be obstacles that you might feel, but the obstacles are no obstacles at all because the Spirit, being Divine, would be devoid of all challenges. The obstacles are created by your wrong thinking, way of life, Jnana, the wrong way of life, action, Karma and wrong devotion to wrong objects, Bhakti, and all these things constitute the misery of your life.

When you find the simple secrets, they are not too difficult, at least for me. When you find the secrets of these simple principles, then your life can be so, so, so happy. Is that not what you want? So, your husband, or boyfriend or whatever, I do not know, smacked you last week, and he was very angry with you. Now, ask yourself why he was angry and why he slapped me. Have you ever thought that I might have done something wrong so that my woman slapped me?

Here comes self-analysis, and self-analysis means not being judgmental. So, he slapped me. I must think, why did he slap me? Is it because of some Karma that I did, perhaps voluntarily? Or involuntarily, or by just impulsion? Then, you will find that I deserved to be smacked. We say we are sensible, but remember there are other parts to it: sense, common sense and nonsense. Which is most important? Sense, common sense, or nonsense? Nonsense because sense involves the mind. So, let us get away from the mind; it is nonsense, but let us get to the Heart, which makes the most incredible sense because the feelings of the Heart transmute themselves to the mind to give you good sense.

So many things happen in life, and we are all grown-up people. Many things happen to people because they work on common sense, but let us have good sense. Good sense removes all the obstacles on the spiritual path, and good sense not only removes the barriers on the spiritual path but also gives you a better understanding of life. A better understanding, not only of yourself, but of your beloved ones, your environment, everything. So, get away from sense and common sense and nonsense, and develop good sense through your spiritual practices, which will remove all the obstacles in your spiritual path. And when those obstacles are removed, you will feel like a better person. I promise you that.

That is the secret of life, for you can only develop in life by destroying the obstacles. If you have a thorn in your foot or a pebble in your shoe, will you limp around with that stone? No, you pull off your shoe and throw away the pebble or stone or whatever is there, and you will walk comfortably. Is that not what you want, to walk through life comfortably? It is all so, so simple?

INVEST WITHIN YOUR SPIRITUAL SELF

Why can people not understand the simplicity of life? Life can be made so beautiful. I come to lecture to you because, with this understanding, every obstacle can be removed because there is a different attitude towards life. You walk down the road, and the sun is very bright; what do you do? Get yourself a pair of sunglasses to remove the glare that is all. If you can spend ten or fifteen pounds on dinner at a restaurant, you can spend five pounds buying those sunglasses that will remove the glare, and you will feel more comfortable and more at ease, and your eyes will not be harmed. You see how simple? Fifteen pounds on a meal is five pounds only to protect your eyes and make you more comfortable. Investing five pounds in getting your eyes comfortable and not being affected would be a significant investment. When your eyes get damaged, you must go to the eye specialist who just looks at your eyes, and fifty bucks are gone. Here, you might have a different system. But is five pounds, not a better investment than running up and down to the eye specialist instead of spending five bucks for your sunglasses in the beginning?

This means investing within your Spiritual Self, which costs you nothing, instead of suffering all your life. That is what this analogy means.

… Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang UK 1986 – 05