The True Devotee Assembles a Mental Caravan of Noble Qualities

The true devotee banishes faintheartedness. Resolutely he assembles a mental caravan of noble spiritual qualities, appointing Will Power and Devotion to the post of leadership, and set out on his journey.

He knows with unshakable faith that, once he frees his heart from every vestige of desire, he will attain true freedom at last.

Onward, ever onward he travels, embracing high achievements on the way, but never allowing himself to become attached to any of them. Never does he rest until the end is reached. Such is the true devotee!

Give Little Weight to the Trials that Beset You

Life is change.

Remain ever calm within. Be even minded. When working, be calmly active. Someday, you will know yourself to be subject no longer to the tides of Destiny. Your strength will come from within; you will not depend on outer incentives for any kind of motivation.

As a devotee on the spiritual path, give little weight to the trials that beset you. Be even-minded. Walk with courage. Go forward from day to day with calm inner faith.

Eventually, you will pass beyond every shadow of bad karma, beyond all tests and difficulties, and will behold at last the dawn of divine fulfillment.

In that highest of all states of consciousness will come freedom from every last, trailing vapor of misfortune.

Today—now!—set out for that promised land—distant-seeming, yet ever near: unshakable state of absolute fulfillment in God.

O Devotee, make haste!

You Are Endowed with Eternal Joy

Play your tragic or comic parts in life with an inner smile.

You are immortals, endowed with eternal joy. Never forget this during your play with changeable mortal life. This world is but a stage on which you play your parts under the direction of the Divine Stage Manager. Play them well, whether they will be tragic or comic, always remembering that your real nature is eternal bliss, and nothing else. The one thing that will never leave you is the joy of your soul.

Therefore, learn to swim in the calm see of unchanging bliss before you attempt to plunge into the maelstrom of material life, which is the realm of sorrow, sense pleasure, indifference, and a deceptive, temporary peace.

You don’t know what bliss is until you experience the eternal joy of the soul in meditation. The whole-hearted practice of meditation brings deep bliss. Manifest this serenity always.

Excerpted from How to Have Courage, Calmness, and Confidence by Paramhansa Yogananda

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