Turn Your Mind towards God

You should turn your mind towards Tapa [perseverance]. Through Tapa only, you can understand God, develop faith in Him, and feel His power and blessings.

Tapa has many forms-

• Tapa of Vani: Speak sweet. Do not use inciting or inflammatory words
• Tapa of Mind: Keep yourself polite, gentle, happy, and peaceful
• Tapa of Body: Service is the tapa of the body. Choose to serve and work without any desire
• Atma – Nigrah: Self-control
• Bhav Sandhuddhi: Make your feelings pure and good

God is Total Love

Lord Shri Krishna unraveled new methods in His time. Before Him, it was a regimen of strict rules. He removed all the clutter and said that a yogi was a person whose mind was linked to his duty, who was balanced, who was keeping his mind always connected with God, who, in a quiet mode, was listening to the voice of God, his own inner flute and was constantly in tune with that inner sound. A yogi is the recipient of the joy of Paramātmā, God. 

Keep yourself

Keep yourself connected with peace, joy, satisfaction, happiness, and enthusiasm. All of these are the gifts of that Paramātmā. God is total love. One can see His love even in the most violent living being. A lioness tore an animal apart and ate its flesh, but as soon as it reaches its cubs it is an epitome of love. See the filial love of a lioness as she suckles her cubs and realizes the love of God.

God is love. Energy affection, joy, and happiness are His rays. A yogi uses and enjoys them in seclusion. He listens to His voice, and a wave of God rises in his consciousness. He does not have any desire to get anything. Yogis are connected with God all the time. But see our, mundane, definition of joy: If I complete this, I’ll be joyful, if I get this, I think I’ll be satisfied. This is the cause of our misery. Therefore, live every moment with joy.

 Lord Shri Krishna considered fighting, too, an action, and, according to Him, a Kshathriya should fight i.e., perform his duty, and, at the same time, remain connected with God. The Tibetans and the Japanese also tried to adopt this method. This Nad yoga should be considered as Dhyan or meditation. If the yogi’s attention or mind is in music, then this, too, becomes a meditation. If one concentrates on food, it is called meditation. 

Fix your mind; eat your food enjoying its taste and masticating every morsel; look at good and beautiful scenes and feel joy in seeing them; sit near the flowers and talk to them – all these things help in developing concentration. When the mind concentrates and stabilizes in the depths of meditation, it is the first stage of Samadhi or total trance.

Faith is Essential

You should organize your life and time properly if you desire to move towards God. Try to be regular in your habits and actions. If we are not regular, even yoga will not take us to health or cure our disease. People these days want an immediate miracle. This is painful. Why is an illness there? – Because we are not regular. We do not have discipline in life.

Faith is essential. If you have faith in your Guru [mentor], you will call on him every full moon night [Purnima]. When faith and determination are awakened, then an aspirant will wake up early as soon as there is a red tinge of light in the east. When the Lord traces a Tilak [red mark] on the forehead of the sky, when the whole nature is bathed in dew, then the chosen one of God will wake up, bathe, stretch an Asan [seat] for God and call Him out. And then God recognizes his Tapa and showers His blessings upon him.