How do I figure out what is my life'spurpose?
Look into your life and find your aim in life. Donot make a choice on the basis of your current emotion, but on thesum total of the inclinations in your life. Arrive at aconclusion.
Try to project yourself to the end of your lifeand in the last minute of your life, what would you like to feelabout yourself? Aim all your choice and actions on thatbasis.
If after you've made a thorough search you havenot found the answer and feel the need for spiritual guidance, thenfind a guide and ask.
Why am I so indecisive? Why do I not have willpower?
When one is indecisive or when one lacks willpower, one has an emotional need which is not yet fulfilled. Examinethat and dis-cover the need which is not fulfilled and one will stopbeing indecisive.
How do I know I'm on the right path? Somepeople choose one path and stick to it, others try two, three or morebefore they know. Are there some guideposts?
In yoga all paths diverge from the Himalayan oneand converge into it. They are essentially one path, the Royal Roadwith many possible excursions to explore. One initiated intoHimalayan raja yoga views all divergent systems of meditation andspiritual seeking as complementary. An initiate will sooner or latebe introduced to each and every one of them while still remaining onone central path. The choice of this central path for an individualtakes time to form as one wanders searching, tasting, rejecting,finding.
At different stages of one's life, a seeker may bedrawn to different teachers because the kind of samskaras,impressions from past lives, that become emergent at that specifictime respond to a particular teaching style and teacher personality.But, after many such trials, one arrives at a station where hisinterior self finally wants to settle, if one has learned to listento one's interior self.
Sometimes, however, a seeker may be at a moreadvanced stage of development because of which the spiritual masterhimself will find and draw the given student. The experience grantedby the master will settle one on that one path as his final option.No matter where our search leads us, we must never lose sight of thefact, that all meditation systems diverge from and converge into theHimalayan one.
Read also the following book: Choosing a Path, bySwami Rama, Himalayan Publishers, Honesdale, PA.
How do I reconcile spiritual life andfamily/worldly life? I want to spend my time meditating and givingservice. However, there are family and work demands. How do I createa balance?
Love and service begin at home. If you have notlearned to serve the people in your immediate circle unselfishly, anyservice given outside that circle also will be polluted by theelements of ego. There is no sadhana greater than that of ahouseholder. The art of life consists of resilience, which one has tolearn to practice in family life. The family becomes your crucibleand your touchstone. I always test people's spiritual progress byobserving the state of their relationships. If their relationshipshave become sweeter, more unselfish, resilient, less demanding, thenI conclude that one is making progress in meditation. Otherwise thereis something missing both in meditation and in service.
Then there is another dimension. Common people useonly a fraction of the surface of their minds for all theiractivities, which is like the waves in the shallows at the beach. Atgreater depths, the meditator discovers layers of the mind oceanwhich are ever in silence. One who has learned the art of karma yoga,the practice of yoga while performing actions, remains in touch withthe silent depths while still acting in the world. But this is an artthat can only be learned by close association with an advancedteacher whose formula for life is: Eat only while you are fasting,speak only when are in silence, act only while you arestill.
How does one balance common sense and faithwhen making a decision? In other words, when should common senseprevail and when should faith prevail?
Look within. When there is no doubt in your mind,common sense and faith have merged into one. Analyse your doubts. Oras Swami Rama said, "Doubt your doubts" and you may arrive at faith.Actually there is no definite answer to this question. One shouldlearn to listen to one's inner self but first learn to distinguishbetween inner self and psychological conditioning. This distinctionis most important. Unfortunately, almost all students I have met calltheir psychological conditioning their inner self. That is not thepath from conditioning to the unconditioned self. Have faith only inthe unconditioned self
FOR A FREE CATALOG of lectures on audio tapesby Swami Veda Bharati on all aspects of yoga science and philosphy,write to: John Zavrel, Rishikesh Foundation, 10545 Main Street,Clarence, NY 14031 (USA).
Copyright 1999 Museum of European Art