Guidance from the Guru

(Letter 5)

Swami Tapovan Maharaj

Om Narayana Smriti

Wish both of you very well.

Received your kind letter several days ago. Here it is now intensely cold winter. I hope you will not be worried or saddened by the delay in getting a reply as it is quite usual for my letters to be late.

One must perform one’s duties not for the sake of sensuous pleasure but out of devotion to God. The scriptures as well as experience show us convincingly that desire is at the root of all action. No desire, no action. If one has absolutely no desires why should he stir out of his seat? One desires physical cleanliness, so he bathes. One desires to satisfy hunger, so he eats. So a devotee performs his action out of love for God, as an act of service to Him. God fills the world. The world is His form. So whatever is done in the world, for the world, is an act of service to God. The devotee, sitting in the world performs his duties out of love for the world which is His form and thus worships Him. He does nothing to enjoy the world of senses or to glorify himself. It is a worldly man who labours night and day to enjoy sense objects.

Until the mind becomes perfectly tranquil, until it transcends all doubt, it will not be free from desire. Desires will sprout up till then, either for good or for evil. Worship of God is a good action, done out of a good desire. As one worships God with flowers and nama japa, another who follows the path of karma worships Him with good actions. His aim is to win the grace of God and reach His presence. These are his ultimate gains. In his eyes, therefore, there is no distinction between a great action and a little one. With whatever God has bidden him to perform, whether it is big or small, he worships Him. This is an important truth grhastas* ought to know.

What makes an action good or bad is the absence or presence of selfishness. Selfishness makes an action sinful and impure. If one has no selfish consideration or motive for his action why should he be affected by its success or failure? Why should he be anxious about its outcome? Leave off all selfish thought that defiles the mind; make the mind still and fix it upon the feet of God; sit in a steady posture as far and as long as possible and worship Him regularly; be like children living in the present worrying little about the past or the future; convince yourself by proper thought it is peace of mind that is the highest pleasure, not even the status of Indra. A life of that kind is the true spiritual life; blessed and blissful it is coveted even by Indra. There are steps still higher than these. Daily unbroken, steady, intense practice enables an aspirant to ascend to them.

With affection,

Swami Tapovanam

* householders