Six Points that Lead to your Highest Good

Being engaged in endeavours that reveal the wisdom of supreme Brahman, the love of Him and the repose in Him, reflecting on such thoughts, keeping such company, studying such scriptures and feeling thus this is Purushārtha (self effort) and going in the reverse direction is Pramāda (negligence). Pramāda takes us into the pit of death. How many lives you have spent repeatedly being reborn and dying, repeatedly being stuck in your mothers’ wombs! How many fathers, mothers’ friends, kinsmen you have left! In order to prevent this life from becoming a failure, remember these six things:

Your goal should be clear.
Your life should be full of zeal and enthusiasm.
You should believe in God and also believe in yourself.
Be careful about whom you trust.
Your life should follow Dharma.
Decide on how your final journey should be.
First of all, fix your goal and set your goal high. There are two types of goals actual and subsidiary. Attaining Supreme Bliss and Supreme Knowledge, attaining to the State of Absolute Freedom, attaining Wisdom of the Soul and God – this is the actual goal. To eat, to drink, to earn money and to perform actions supporting these goals are subsidiary goals. If we ask somebody the goal of his life, he may say, ‘May goal is to become a lawyer.’ Another man may have a goal to become a rich man. No, This is not the real goal of human life. The real goal of human life is to attain Eternal Bliss. All actions one does for that purpose are means to attaining that goal.

Some people fix a goal, ‘I shall become a doctor.’ Well, he becomes one, but is that a goal? It is in fact drudgery. Child, the goal to become a doctor or a lawyer is a subsidiary goal. The main goal is to attain Self-realization and to get delivered from all misery, troubles and worries. So long as the body is living, troubles and afflictions will come but they will not reach you. You will remains established in your substantive divine nature, your immortal state. Firmly determine to achieve such a goal.

The second thing, you should always be enthusiastic. This means you should be as spirited, prompt and strong in adverse circumstances as you are during times of success, elevation, profit and honour. One who is dispirited is dead. Life without enthusiasm is a waste. The Gita says:
……The doer endowed with enthusiasm is called Sattvic.’

Do whatever you do with enthusiasm and alacrity; don’t be careless. Working with enthusiasm enhances one’s abilities and cheerfulness. Work done without enthusiasm becomes a burden.

‘Works done without enthusiasm never get accomplished.

Where there is enthusiasm, there is success.’

Don’t be dispirited and don’t be careless. Have patience in life.

Third thing is to have trust in God and also in yourself. One should trust great people and the greatest of great is God. One should have firm faith in the words of those who live for the sake of God.

Fourth thing is to be careful about whom to trust and how much. Always be circumspect in choosing your work, your thoughts, your company and whom you trust. Whom should we trust? Should we trust those who are selfish, malicious, those who slander, thankless and dishonest people or should we trust those who are seekers on the path of God-Realization, who are engrossed in Self-bliss, in Self-Knowledge, who live ‘for the good of the many, as well as for the happiness of the many’? Whose company should we seek and whose company should we avoid? We should always avoid extroverted and quarrelsome people, slanderers and hedonists. We should believe in those who are engrossed in Self-bliss, Self-Knowledge and selfless love and are our companions on the path to God-Realization. Faith becomes stronger in the company of believers. The company of sādhaks enhances our sādhanā. Once becomes a drunkard in the company of drunkards, and a gambler in the company of who are evolved and enable us to achieve what we want.

In ‘Sri Yoga Vasishtha Maharamayana’, Vasishthaji tells us to be in good company, in the company that purifies our mind and that we should seek the scriptures for guidance. By seeking the company of saints we should endeavour to cross the ocean of samsāara i.e. we should steer clear of demonic tendencies. We should avoid the company, enjoyments, thoughts and literature that deprave our intellect and life, waste our time and energy. We should read high quality literature, enjoy high caliber company, and reflect on lofty thoughts. We should develop a habit of remembering the Highest of the highest God repeatedly, and cultivate a habit of plunging within so that our life ends in communion with God. The fifth thing is that life should be restrained by Dharma. If we abide by Dharma, we shall refrain from wrong doings and what is right will begin to happen. Thus our time and energy will not be wasted in wrong doings. If you don’t do any thing wrong, you will not be disturbed even if people run a smear dharma and altruism in your life, if you intellect is spiritualized, you will remain unharmed howsoever hard people mounting vicious attacks on you may try. The fruit of Dharma in life is equanimity in all circumstances. An example is Yudhishthir, the incarnation of Dharma. Duryodhana did everything in his power to oppress him, but no harm came to him.

The sixth thing is to decide beforehand what should your final journey be life. Death is inevitable, but you should always remember the kind of death you want to have. Do you want to die with a bundle of worries on your head, in pain and suffering, having left work incomplete, vying for worldly possessions, in fear or floundering in the net of desires so that you are repeatedly reborn? No! You should die free of worries and completely fulfilled. No desire and no negative tendency should be achieved.

‘Blessed with the grace of the perfected Guru; and the knowledge upon Him, Asumal was transformed into Sai Asaram.’

Hence, we should constantly be engaged in such practice and travel on such a journey. This will make our life burdnless and free from tension and misery. We should live in such a way that we attain perfection in this very life.