Blog Posts

Does this statement not advocate a false sense of self-satisfaction and defeatist
mentality? Please reconcile the discrepancy and oblige.
“If a thing is refused to him (the Sadhak), he should not aspire for it again.”
Read this statement again and again till it suffuses your entire being, till the proper
substance of it is totally realized by yourself. Then only you will appreciate the grand truth to
imbibe its true spirit. “Neither ask nor reject” should be the motto of an ideal Sadhak. He
should not have any special craving for any particular object, however dearest and cherished it
be. Whatever comes by chance without any self-effort can be had, provided that it does not
degrade the individual from the moral standards. He should not develop any attachment to any
object lest he should suffer mentally when the object is weaned away from him or refused to him
by the will of the Lord. Everything comes and goes as per His sweet will. Whether one strives
for an object or not when something is due, it certainly befalls to one’s lot of its own accord.
Aspirants should cultivate mental detachment and indifference towards good and evil, happiness
and misery, love and hatred and all sorts of pairs of opposites. Such mental equanimity can be
acquired by Atma-Vichara (self-enquiry), study of sacred scriptures, Satsang with Mahatmas, etc.
Self-sacrifice, self-contentment and self-denial are what are required in the spiritual field for
progress. It is no defeatist mentality if the Sadhak rests satisfied with his ordained lot without
yielding himself even mentally to the temptations which he previously used to enjoy. He is
certainly not the “fox that remarked that the grapes were sour when he could not reach to have
them”. By voluntary self-denial and dispassion or by keeping equanimity when something
pleasing does not fall to one’s share, tremendous will-power accumulates. It is therefore a
necessity to keep balance of mind in all states of working consciousness.
From "May I answer that" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations on Swami Sivananda: on the Website of Divine Life Society, Photographs of Swami Sivananda, German Pages on Swami Sivananda