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Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre U.K.
Bourne End, London
Magazine Vedanta May-June 2004
Editorial
Struggle! Struggle! Struggle!
Struggle! Struggle! Struggle! This was the advice Swami Yatiswaranandaji received from Swami Brahmananda, about spiritual progress.
Even after years of struggle many of us are not sure whether we have made any progress at all. The reason, perhaps, is that we focus mostly on the process and not on the goal.
We make a routine of japa, meditation, study of holy books, etc. and try to follow it faithfully. Much of our spiritual satisfaction comes just from this. Following a set practice regularly, undoubtedly has its benefits, for no action goes without result. It indicates that we have a sincere desire and some amount of will-power.
This is good but not good enough. What is needed is a thorough understanding of what spiritual life is.
According to Vedanta each soul is potentially divine. Spiritual struggle is an attempt to manifest this divinity, to transform the potential into fact. It means removing the veils covering the Atman.
The veils are various defects like lust, anger, greed, etc. “Lust, anger and greedthese three are the gateways to hell. Therefore one must renounce them.” (Gita-16: 21)
To the extent these evil qualities are lessened and their opposites are developed, to that extent we make spiritual progress.
Sri Krishna, through Arjuna, advises every spiritual seeker to acquire the “Divine Wealth”. This divine wealth consists of twenty-six spiritual qualities.
We will deal with these in our future editorials.
Swami Dayatmananda