How is one to succeed in practising the principles suggested here?

• Keep daily meditation. It will grant you insights and will verify the factualness of what is presented in these pages.
• Keep your forehead relaxed in all situations, even when running from a fire or ire.
• Every 2-3 hours, do 2-3 minutes of breath-awareness with mantra (even with eyes open when in a meeting where closing the eyes will be inappropriate) whether sitting, standing or wherever. Do keep doing it. It will change your temperament.
• Self-observation. Observing, taking note, every time one has not quite managed to remain true to the principles (Was there a touch of unnecessary harshness in my tone of spoken/written word? Did I neglect the principle of non-anger, humility? Did I show off authority?)
• Sankalpa. Resolve to do better next time. Not guilt, not self-condemnation, not ‘giving-up-on-oneself’. Just renewed sankalpa.
• Select (A) one principle you find the easiest to practice, and (B) one principle you find most difficult to practice as totally against your habitual temperament. Start practising.
• Devise your own methods to apply these principles.
• Note your successes in these practices mentally; let the moments of those successes be remembered and serve as inspiration for the future. These successes will show their benefits to you.
• Do not let these successes become source of pride in you (how much I have advanced! How high I am!! Oh, how humble I am!!!). Let them only inspire you for the future continuity of their applications.
• When you have changed your temperament regarding the (A) and (B) in (6) above, move on to other principles; those will now become much easier.

These are the ways of all sadhana.

Svasti panthaam anu-charema (Veda): may you walk on the path of svasti (su+asti= ‘all beautiful and harmonious’. ‘Is’).

Recommended Readings

1. Creative Use of Emotions by Swami Rama
2. Art of Joyful Living by Swami Rama
3. Mind the Playground of Gods by Swami Veda Bharati
4. You and Your Emotions by Swami Veda Bharati

Editor’s Note

This is a chapter from the book – “Sadhana in Applied Spirituality” by Swami Veda Bharati.